


Complications

by Traw



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Slash
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-24
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2018-08-17 00:51:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 27
Words: 28,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8124238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Traw/pseuds/Traw
Summary: When they had told him Steve needed a liver transplant, Danny had not even hesitated that he would donate a part of his liver to save Steve's life, after all  he and Steve shared the same blood type. They had also warned him that there would be some discomfort after the operation but they did not warn him the discomfort would feel like a white hot knife was being twisted in his guts.Epilogue to the Season 6 episode - O Ke Ali'i Wale No Ka' U Make Make





	1. Chapter 1

Opening his eyes, Danny pulled the light sheet up over his shoulders in an attempt to stop shivering as he rolled over and stared at the figure asleep in the other bed. How the Hell could McGarrett sleep when the room was so cold?

He swallowed a moan as a stabbing pain tore through his midriff, they had warned him that there would be some discomfort after the operation but they did not warn him the discomfort would feel like a white hot knife was being twisted in his guts. Clutching his midriff, he pulled his knees up to his chest and turned his head into the pillow to smother his groans as he prayed for the pain to ease. 

His prayer was finally answered as the pain began to fade, only to return a heartbeat later, so intense that it stole his breath away.

“Danny?” Steve frowned as he heard the soft moan from the bed beside him. “Danny are you okay?”

Another pain filled moan answered his question as he gingerly sat up and turned the light above his bed on as he looked across at his partner in the other bed. Danny was tightly curled up on his side, his arms wrapped tightly around his stomach, his knees drawn up to his chest and his face buried deep into the pillow as he moaned in pain again. Even in the dim light the nightlight above his bed gave off, Steve could see Danny was shivering violently.

“Ohh God, Steve… it hurts…” Danny moaned into the pillow as another agonizing pain tore through his stomach, “Ohh God … Steve…”

“It’s okay, Buddy, I’m here.” Steve called across the small distance that separated them as he grabbed the nurse call button and pressed it hard before dropping it onto the bed as he turned and swung his legs off the bed. He felt the needle from the drip tug in the back of his hand as the tubing was stretched as far as it would go and he quickly tore of the surgical tape securing the needle and pulled the needle free.  Sliding off the bed, he held his own painful surgical incision with one hand as he unsteadily crossed to the side of Danny’s bed. “I’m here, Buddy.” he whispered again as he reached the bed as the door to their room opened and the nurse entered the room.

“Mr McGarrett, what do you think you are doing out of bed?” she asked as she turned on the main light.

“It’s Danny…Something’s wrong…” Steve began but anymore he was going to say was interrupted as Danny cried out in pain and curled up into a tighter ball as his arms wrapped tighter around his stomach.

“Sss…steve….”

Gently placing his hand on Danny’s back, Steve leaned down close to his ear and whispered, “It’s going okay Babe, I’m here and so is the nurse.”

Moving swiftly across to the side of Danny’s bed, the nurse nudged Steve out of the way as she grabbed the call button and leaned down closer to Danny and asked, “Detective Williams, where does it hurt?”

“My sss…stomach,” Danny panted through gritted teeth before he begged, unable to stop the tears as wave after wave of excruciating pain stabbed through his guts, “Ohh God, pl...please make it stop.”

Reaching for Danny’s wrist, the nurse turned her head towards the door as it opened and two more nurses hurried into the room. “Page Doctor Mullins, tell him we need him here stat.” she ordered the first nurse who turned and hurried out of the room before she turned to the second nurse and nodded towards Steve, glancing down at his hand and the droplets of blood that were falling onto the floor. “Please help Commander McGarrett back into bed. He needs to have his drip reinserted.”

The young nurse nodded and hurried across and gently but firmly guided Steve away from the side of Danny’s bed as the curtain was quickly drawn between him and his partner.

Reluctantly Steve got back in bed, never noticing when the nurse covered his legs with the sheet and adjust the pillows behind him and eased him back into a semi- reclined position, as he watched the surgeon hurried into the room and disappeared behind the curtain.

“I’m sure that he will be okay,” the young Polynesian nurse whispered as she tried to reassure her patient who was anxiously watching the shadows flicker across the curtain as she she skilfully reinserted the drip.

Steve nodded distractedly as he strained to hear what was happening on the other side of the piece of hanging white material that separated him from his closest friend.  

“BP’s 80/60… Pulse 120 and thready…” the nurse said quietly, acutely aware that the patient’s partner, and the man to whom he had donated half of his liver, was now back in the other bed, probably eavesdropping into their conversation.

“Stomach’s distended and hard,” Mullins frowned as Danny cry out in pain and tried to push his hands away as he gently palpated his swollen stomach, “and there’s tenderness around the liver.”

“Do you think he’s bleeding?” the nurse asked as she watched the doctor moved around the bed and adjusted the flow of the drip.

“That or he has developed peritonitis.” Mullins nodded grimly as he looked down at his extremely ill patient who had rolled back onto his side, moaning softly as he clutched his stomach. Looking back up at the nurse, he sighed, “Either way, he’s in trouble, I think we better get him straight up to the OR and find out what the Hell is going on.”

“I’ll contact the OR and tell them we are on our way up.”

“Also contact Dr Hartman, tell him I would like him to assist.” 

“Yes Doctor.” the nurse answered as she turned and hurried out of the room.

Sighing, the surgeon turned towards the curtain, aware that McGarrett would want to know what was happening. Taking a deep breath, he pulled the curtain open.

“Doc?” Steve asked, his fear and concern for his partner only too evident on his face as he looked across at Danny.

“I’m afraid that Detective Williams has developed some complications.” he began softly as the nurse returned with two orderlies and informed the surgeon the OR was ready before disconnecting Danny from the monitor that was sitting on the table beside the bed.

“Complications? What kind of complications?” Steve asked, running his hand over the back of his head, not quite believing this was not all just a bad dream as he looked back at the surgeon.

“I’m afraid that he is either bleeding internally or has developed peritonitis, unfortunately we won’t know which until we do exploratory surgery.” the surgeon told him as he turned and watched his patient wheeled from the room before he turned back to Steve, “Now if you will excuse me, I really have to go.”

“Doc…”

Mullins paused as he reached the door and turned back to the man in the bed, “I know, Commander, I will have the nurses update you as soon as I can.”

“Thanks.” Steve said softly, staring at an empty doorway as the argument he and Danny had had before Danny had gone to sleep came back to haunt him.


	2. Chapter 2

Fumbling for his phone on the bedside table, Chin managed to pick it up and glanced at the caller ID before he hit the accept button and flopped back down on his pillow as he mumbled. “It’s 3 am Steve, and you’re in the hospital. Aren’t you supposed to be asleep or something, Brah?”

“Chin, it’s Danny…” 

Something in McGarrett’s voice, a quiet panic that he had never heard in Steve’s voice before, snapped Chin fully awake and he sat up, a heavy dread settling in the pit of his stomach as he asked cautiously, “What about Danny?” He heard Steve audibly swallow as he tucked the phone between his ear and his shoulder and reached for his clothes.

“Danny’s been rushed back into surgery, Chin.” Steve answered softly.

“Rushed back into surgery? Why?” Chin asked as he finished pulling on his pants and began to slip on his shirt.

 “The surgeon thinks he’s developed complications from the transplant.” Chin heard Steve’s voice tremble as he quickly slipped on his shoes.

“Complications?” Chin paused, not certain that he had heard McGarrett correctly, after all they had been told Danny had only a small risk of complications after donating half his liver to Steve. Although the operation itself was classified as a major operation, the doctor had reassured everyone that the donor usually recovered fast and was discharged within a week and back to work within a month with no or little after effects. Steve was the one who, the doctors had told them, would be more likely to face complications after the operation.

“The doctors believe he’s either bleeding internally or has developed peritonitis but they won’t know which or how serious until they operate. They took him straight up to the OR.” Chin heard Steve pause and swallow again before he sighed softly, “It…it doesn’t look good, Chin.”

“I’m on my way.” Chin quickly reassured his ill friend as he grabbed his car keys and headed towards the door.

H50 H50 H50

“Damn it, where’s all this blood coming from? He’s losing it faster when we can replace it. More suction!” Hartman muttered as he tried to swab the blood away.

“Let’s give him another 2 units of blood, wide open.” Mullins ordered as he glanced across at the nurse who nodded her acknowledgement before he looked across at the anesthetist.  “How’s his blood pressure?”

“65/40 and dropping.” The anesthetist answered succinctly as he quickly adjusted the flow of the gases to the mask covering Danny’s mouth and nose and nervously watched the green dot on the heart monitor as it danced across the screen with an occasional irregular beat.

“There it is!” Mullins announced softly, pointing to the row of newly placed stitches, “See where several of vascular sutures have fallen off.”

Hartman frowned as he heard Mullins ask for the suturing needle. Wiping away a little more of the gore, his nose wrinkled as a faint foul odor assaulted his nose. Looking back up at Mullins, he asked, “You said the patient had been involved in some sort of accident before he donated part of his liver, didn’t you?”

Mullins nodded distractedly, “Yeah, he was in a plane accident. He landed the plane after his partner was shot.”

“And they did a full examination when he was brought into the ER?” Hartman frowned before asking the nurse to suction the small area of the intestines that he was examining.

Glancing up from his suturing, Mullins answered cautiously, “I believe so…”

“Including an MRI?” Hartman pressed as he carefully studied the intestine.

“I’m…I’m not sure that his injuries warranted an MRI, his injuries were mainly superficial, cut cheek, minor head trauma.” Looking at the piece of intestine that the other surgeon was carefully running through his hands, Mullins looked back up at Hartman and asked, “Why?”

“Because we missed this, not only in the ER but also when he was in surgery before.” Hartman answered softly as he carefully rolled the intestine in his hand and showed the shocked surgeon the small leaking tear.

“Ohh, shit!” Mullins swore as he looked down at his critically ill patient.

“You guys better do whatever you need to do wiki wiki.” The anesthetist interrupted softly as he watched the heart monitor closely, “Because he’s not going to tolerate being under much longer. BP is dropping.”

Hartman looked across at Mullins as he ordered softly, “Finish suturing his liver and I will suture this tear, then let’s get him washed out and closed up as fast as we can.”

Swallowing hard, Mullins nodded his silent agreement as he began to finish suturing the dissected liver edges together. How the hell had a tear in his intestine been missed, not just once but twice?

H50 H50 H50


	3. Chapter 3

“Steve!” Concern and worry tinged Chin’s voice as he hurried into the hospital room with Kono and Lou following closely behind as he asked. “Any word on Danny yet?”

Holding onto his midriff, Steve tried hard not to grimace as he sat up a little higher in the bed and glanced at the empty bed beside him before he looked back at other three members of his small team, his fear for his partner and closest friend evident in his eyes as he slowly shook his head, “Not yet.”

“I don’t understand Steve, Danny seemed fine when we left, what happened?” Lou frowned.

“I don’t know, Lou, he was irritable after you left. I thought it was just Danny being Danny…” Steve paused, trying to push away the guilt as he remembered the stupid argument that had started over what to watch on TV, that had escalated quickly with Danny accusing him of being ungrateful for Danny’s donating part of his liver to save his life, to his threat to cut out the donated liver himself if he developed Danny’s negative attitude.  He knew Danny had been feeling unappreciated and probably a little hurt that he had not thanked him for donating half of his liver but he also did not quite understand why. Danny should have known without having to be told he was truly grateful.

“We argued over what to watch on TV and he rolled over and went to sleep.” Steve admitted softly as he ran his hand over the back of his head and tried to push the unwanted memory away. Shifting a little in the bed to ease the pain and discomfort he was beginning to feel as his pain medication began to wear off, he glanced guiltily across at the empty bed. “I didn’t even notice that anything was wrong until he woke up in agony. The doctor thinks he has developed some sort of complication from the surgery.”

“What sort of complications?” Kono asked in confusion.

“Detective Williams began to bleed internally after some of his internal stitches tore away, probably when he turned over too fast or coughed. Unfortunately, internal bleeding is one of the complications of undergoing the living donor surgery.” The doctor answered Kono’s question as he entered the room, the surgical mask he had worn during Danny’s emergency operation still dangling around his neck.

“How is he, Doc? Is he going to be ok?” Steve asked, sitting up higher in the bed as he watched the surgeon approach.

“I’m afraid that Detective Williams’s condition is critical.” The surgeon announced quietly as he reached the side of Steve’s bed. “We restitched his liver and have managed to stop the bleeding but he has lost a large amount of blood.”

“I don’t understand,” Chin frowned, “if he knew there were serious risks associated with being a live donor, why didn’t he or you tell us?”

“Detective Williams insisted that we downplay those risks to him when we discussed him becoming a live donor for Commander McGarrett with the rest of you. He said that everyone had enough to worry about with Commander McGarrett’s precarious condition and he didn’t want to add to your stress if you were made aware of the possible risks he was taking by being the donor.” Mullins paused as he looked around at the worried faces of Williams’s colleagues before he took a deep breath and added softly. “Also we discovered that Detective Williams also suffered internal injuries from the plane crash that were missed both in the ER when he was first brought in for examination after the accident and then again when he was undergoing the liver donor transplant surgery that have caused serious complications to his recovery.”

“Internal injuries? What injuries?” Lou asked surprised, glancing at Chin and Kono.

“We found a small tear in Detective Williams’s intestine that we believed happened in the plane crash. It was missed in his initial examination in the ER after the plane crash and then again when he was undergoing surgery. Unfortunately, the tear has allowed bacteria and some of the contents of his intestines to leak out and has caused a massive infection. We have washed out as much of the contamination as we could and have repaired the tear and started him on high doses of antibiotics but with his already weakened condition caused by the blood loss and the donor operation…”

“What…what are his chances?” Steve whispered, unable to believe this was really happening.

“I know, Commander McGarrett, that you are listed as Detective Williams’s next of kin but I also understand that his parents and sisters live on the mainland?” Dr Mullins asked quietly.

Steve nodded, “They live in New Jersey.”

“Then I think someone should call them and tell them to come to Hawaii immediately,” the surgeon answered softly, aware that the warning answered the Commander’s question, “Also someone should prepare his children…”

“Can…can I see him?”

“We are transferring him up to the ICU as soon. I will arrange for a nurse to take you up to see him.” The doctor answered before he firmly reminded the upset man, “But remember Commander McGarrett, you have just undergone a major operation, yourself. I will allow you five minutes with Detective Williams after he is settled in the ICU but after that I want you back in this room and resting. Understood?”

Nodding silently, Steve watched in disbelief as the nurse began to pack up Danny’s belongings including the single hand drawn Get Well card from Charlie and Grace that sat on Danny’s bedside table. He swallowed back the tears that threatened to fall as he heard Danny’s hurt and angry accusations of him being ungrateful from just a few hours before echo in his ears. A cold chill rippled through his soul as he realized that Danny was right, he had never thanked Danny for saving his life and the chance to thank his closest friend might not happen again.

The nurse paused as she looked at the childish drawing that adorned the front of the card before glancing across at the numerous balloons, gifts and Get Well cards that were lined up against the wall and covered Steve’s bedside table. “Do any of those cards belong to Detective Williams?” she asked quietly.

Kono, Lou and Chin looked at the cards that were scattered across Steve bedside table before looking guiltily back at the single hand drawn card the nurse held in her hand as Lou cleared his throat, “Umm, no, all these cards belong to McGarrett.”

“Ohh,” the nurse murmured in surprise as she glanced again at the cards, balloons and gifts that adorned Steve’s side of the room before she looked back down at the card she held in her hand. They watched in silence as she carefully packed the handmade card into the small bag that contained Danny’s belongings before she turned and followed the surgeon out of the room.


	4. Chapter 4

Hitting the disconnect button on his phone, Chin leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes.

"Did you reach Danny's parents?" Kono asked quietly as she joined Chin outside Steve's hospital room.

"Yeah, they are trying to catch the next flight here." Chin answered as he opened his eyes and looked at his cousin, "I just hope they make it in time."

"Danny's not going to die." Kono stated firmly, her lip began to quiver as she added softly, "He can't die, Chin, not now, not after everything that's happened."

Chin shrugged, too upset to even speak as he wrapped his arms around his cousin and pulled her closer, his head resting on hers as she sobbed into his shoulder, his own tears slowly trickled down his face. Chin continued to hold Kono for a minute or two, before he released her and quickly wiped away his tears with his hand. Swallowing hard, he asked, "Did you know that Danny's father had a mild heart attack a couple of weeks ago? His sister just told me."

Kono's eyes opened wide in surprise, "No, is he okay? Why didn't Danny say anything?"

"His dad's looking good for a full recovery." Chin sighed before he shrugged guiltily and added honestly. "I don't know the reason why Danny didn't tell us or Steve. Maybe he thought we just wouldn't care…"

Startled by Chin's answer, Kono wiped away her own tears as she stared at him, "Why would he even think that we didn't care? Danny knows he's ohana, Chin, of course we care."

"Does he really know if he's still ohana, anymore?"

"Of course he does." Kono answered before she frowned uncertainly, "He has to know that, right? I mean Chin, he's Danny!"

Chin shook his head slowly, his heart breaking, as the realization that had washed over him like a tsunami when he had watched the nurse pick up the only card that had wished Danny to get well, washed over him again. The only card that Danny had received was from his own children. There had been none of the cards or well wishes from anyone else that Steve had received.

Chin could still see the hurt, he had not allowed himself to acknowledged, in Danny's eyes when Danny had asked if any of the many cards Steve had received mentioned him. Instead they had laughed and told him 'No' and teased him about it. Hell, they couldn't have made it more obvious who they believed was the most important patient in the room last night. They had all crowded around Steve's bed, leaving Danny with just Gracie and Charlie around his bed. Danny must have felt like he was the third wheel in the room, just an unwanted roommate whose presence was merely being tolerated.

Deep down Chin knew that it wasn't how everyone felt. The last few hours had been a coaster ride of emotions that had ranged from the depths of despair and fear when they had believed they were going to loss Steve to total elation when the transplant operation had been a success and they found out Steve would make a full recovery. No one had even thought of the risks Danny was taking. He was unable to push away the guilt of ignoring his own voice that screamed in his head that Danny needed to be completely checked over after the plane crash, instead he had allowed himself to turn a blind eye to any possible unseen injuries Danny might have suffered and he had allowed Danny to go after the bastards who had almost killed Steve.

Chin shook his head slowly as he admitted that Danny was an extremely important member of their close knit ohana, the level headed brother who could keep them in check when they needed it. Chin swallowed down the hot bile that rose in the back of his throat as he realized that sometimes actions could speak louder than words, even when those actions did not mirror the truth of how they really felt about him. Looking back at Kono, he softly admitted, "No, I don't think Danny does anymore, Kono."


	5. Chapter 5

 

"I don't understand it, Steve, Danny must have been in pain after the plane accident. Why didn't he say something when they were examining him?" Lou frowned as he stood up and began to pace the room, "I mean I knew he was sore but I thought it was just because of the broken rib but he never said a word about being hurt anywhere else. All he wanted to do was get out of here and get the guys responsible. Hell, he didn't say a word about being more seriously hurt when he offered to donate you half his liver. Damn it, he should have said something! He should have told us he was hurting! We should have noticed something more was wrong with him. I should have insisted that he remained in hospital and be fully examined after the plane crash." Lou stopped pacing and turned back to the injured man in the bed, as he softly added, "But I didn't. I thought that we were going to lose both of you when we heard Danny's mayday call but somehow he managed to get the plane down, and then it looked like we were going to lose you…" Lou shook his head, "I didn't even think that Danny might be more seriously injured. Damn it, I knew the man had just been involved in a plane crash that could have killed you both, I should have insisted that he stayed … "

"We all should have." Chin told Lou as he re-entered the room with Kono close behind.

"Did you reach Danny's parents?" Steve asked, grimacing as he sat higher up in the bed, his face damp with perspiration as he tried to ignore the pain.

"They're trying to catch the next flight available here." Chin answered, casting a surreptitious glance across at his cousin before he looked back at the other two men in the room. "Any word on Danny?"

"He's settled in the ICU." The nurse announced as she pushed a wheelchair into the room and across to Steve's bed. "And Dr Mullins has asked me to take you up to see him." She told Steve as she disconnected the heart monitor and placed the drip onto the drip stand connected to the chair before she gently helped him from the bed onto the wheel chair as she continued, "But Dr Mullins also asked me to remind you that you have just undergone a major operation, yourself. He is allowing you a five-minute visit with Detective Williams but after that, you are to return back to this room, take your pain medication and rest."

Steve nodded, biting the inside of his lip, trying not to moan as he gingerly settled onto the chair before he was wheeled out of the room with Chin, Kono and Lou following closely behind.

H50 H50 H50

Adjusting one of the drips that hung above Danny's bed, the nurse glanced at Steve as he was wheeled into the room, followed closely behind by the other three members of the Five 0 task force.

"How is he?" Steve asked anxiously as he reached the side of the bed and gingerly stood up, holding onto the railing on the side of the bed.

Glancing up the heart monitor before looking across at Steve she answered, "He's holding his own at the moment." Carefully inserting the oxygen mask over Danny's face, she turned and turned up the oxygen flow before she looked back at the patient's four visitors and reminding them. "You have five minutes, guys, he needs to rest," Looking across at Steve, she added pointedly, "And so do you, Commander, you have just undergone major surgery yourself. You are lucky that Dr. Mullins has even allowed you out of bed."

"Five minutes." Steve agreed distractedly, as he lightly placed his hand on Danny's arm as the nurse nodded and left the room to give them some privacy. Steve felt his heart sink as he glanced around the bed, three drips hung above the bed, two of the clear bags IV lines snaked down to disappear beneath a dressing at the junction of Danny's neck and shoulder, a third IV containing blood was inserted into the crock of Danny's left arm and a heart monitor beeped softly beside the bed, its small green raced across the screen.

Looking back down at Danny he felt his heart drop. He had never seen Danny so still. The crisp white sheets that were folded back across just below Danny's chest accentuated Danny's gray complexion, dark bruises that Steve had not noticed earlier covered his swollen cheekbone, and the left side of his chest, while thick white dressings peeked out from under the sheets.

"Hey, I'm here, you're going to be fine." Steve whispered as he swallowed hard and lightly squeezed to too warm arm beneath his hand, blinking back the tears that threatened to fall, "Why didn't you tell someone that you were hurt, Danny? Your life is far more important to us than revenge against Dae Won." Steve shook his head as Danny's face blurred because of the tears that stung his eyes as he softly continued, "You were right when we argued last night. I never thanked you for giving me half your liver or for saving my life. So, thank you for not only giving me half your liver, which by the way I do know I am going to be hearing about it for the rest of my life, and thank you for saving my life ,not only by giving me part of your liver but for landing that plane, and for keeping me alive after I was shot." Steve squeezed Danny's arm a little tighter as a tear dripped onto the white sheet, "I heard you telling me that I was not allowed to die. You're the reason why I am still here, Buddy, you're the reason why I didn't give up. But you were also wrong last night, if things were reversed and you needed part of my liver, I would cut it out myself and give it to you in a heartbeat."

Steve paused, his heart beating painfully in his chest as he stared down into Danny's still face. Wiping his hand over his own damp face, he grimaced as he felt a sharp pain lance through his midriff as he swayed unsteadily and grabbed the bed rail again, determined to continue, "But I was also wrong, Danny, Charlie will never grow up and hate you. I was joking, I …I was doing our thing… I never meant a word of it. He's going to grow up loving you just as much as I do. I love you, man, so don't you dare give up on me…on Charlie and Gracie, they need their dad…on us, we need you, buddy, more than I think you know." Swallowing hard, Steve cleared his throat and blinked away the tears as he tried to force a small smile as he grabbed Danny's hand and gave it a tight squeeze, "The doc is only giving us five minutes so you can rest and get your strength back, but I promise, I will be back soon. I love you, buddy." Giving Danny's hand another tight squeeze, Steve turned and eased himself down onto the wheel chair behind him as he felt his legs begin to give way beneath.

Stepping closer to the edge of the bed, Kono leaned over, gently kissing Danny's cheek. Straightening up, she forced a small smile as she whispered, "Hey Bruddah, what do you think you are doing giving us a scare? That's McGarrett's job, not yours. You're the sensible one of us. We need you, I need you, Danny, you are the big brother I have never had." Kono whispered, her voice catching as she reached up and removed the small necklace she wore from around her neck. Momentarily looking down at it, she lightly traced the etching with her finger as she remembered the day Danny had given it to her.

It had been her graduation day and she had missed out on her graduation from HPD because of a Five 0 case, so Steve, Danny, and Chin had held their own graduation for her, themselves.

Carefully placing the small silver medallion into the palm of Danny's limp hand, she gently wrapped his fingers around it as she told him. "I want you to keep this until you are well enough to give it back to me yourself, it's the medallion that you gave me for my graduation. You told me the St Michael was the patron saint of cops, I want him to watch over you and keep you safe, Danny." she whispered close to his ear before lightly kissing him on the cheek. Straightening back up, she wiped away a tear before she brushed a stray hair back that cling to his damp forehead as she whispered, "Just rest, concentrate on getting well, I will be back later."

Leaning across the railing, Lou lightly squeezed Danny's leg as he gently scolded him, "You know Danny, that McGarrett is the one we all expect to go all Super SEAL on us and ignore his injuries, not you Bruddah. You're the one who is supposed to keep McGarrett in check, you're not supposed to pull a McGarrett on us and end up in the ICU. When you wake up, you and I are going to have a long chat about what you did," Lou shook his head as he added, "and I am also going to thank you, something we should have done yesterday." Glancing back over his shoulder at the nurse who appeared in the doorway, he turned back and looked Danny, "Looks like our time's up, Danny, looks like we're about to get chased out of here but I will be back as soon as they let me. Until then I want you to rest and get your strength back, you have two beautiful kids who want and need their dad."

Stepping closer to the bed as he heard the nurse clear her throat, Chin turned to face the nurse , glancing at his three colleagues before he looked defiantly back at the nurse, "You guys go. I'm going to stay here with Danny. He needs one of us, one of his ohana to stay with him so he's not alone, even if he knows we're here or not."


	6. Chapter 6

Duane “Dog” Chapman glanced across at Grace sitting next to him before he glanced in his rear vision mirror at Charlie who was happily playing with a small toy car in his car seat. He had received the call less than half an hour ago, from Chin, asking him if he could bring Grace and Charlie to the hospital, wiki wiki. Danny’s condition had unexpectedly taken a drastic turn for the worse during the night and the doctors had suggested that Grace and Charlie be brought immediately to the hospital for what could be their final goodbyes to their father. Chin had explained that he was staying with Danny in the ICU so Danny would not be alone while Kono and Lou were staying with Steve in his hospital room to ensure that McGarrett would not decide to ignore his own doctor’s strict orders to rest and make a break to go back to Danny’s room to watch over his critically ill friend.

It had been heartbreaking to try and gently break the news to Danny’s two children of their father’s deteriorating condition, although Dog knew that while Charlie was too young to understand what was happening, Grace understood what he and Beth had told her only too well. She had not said very much, instead, she had helped get Charlie dressed and ready for the early morning hospital visit before climbing silently into the car for the trip to the hospital.

The ride so far to the hospital had been a silent one and Dog found his heart aching for both kids, he knew there was nothing that he could say that was going to make this visit any easier. All he could do was pray that the doctors were just being overly cautious, that Danny was strong enough to fight and recover.

“Maybe Danno was right.” Grace suddenly sighed before she bit her bottom lip and stared out of the car window.

Glancing at the upset young girl sitting next to him, Duane frowned, “Right about what, Grace?”

“Danno wanted to move back to New Jersey.” Gracie whispered, almost too softly for Duane to hear as she continued to stare out of the window as she admitted guiltily, “But I wanted to stay…”

Duane’s frown deepened as he looked back at the road before he glanced again at Grace, “I don’t understand, I thought your dad was happy here.”

 “He was and now he’s not.’ Grace swallowed down a sob as she turned back to look at world famous bail bondsman. “He said it was because he wanted to be closer to Grandma and Granddad but I now know that wasn’t the real reason…”

“What do you mean?” Dog’s frown deepened.

“It’s because he doesn’t have any real friends here anymore.” Grace answered as she continued as she turned to stare out of the window again, her tears blurring her vision.

“Why would even you think that your dad has no real friends?” Duane gasped in surprise as he darted another look at Grace. “Your dad’s got lots of friends. He’s got Chin, Lou, Steve and Kono as well as me and Beth. And I know Steve, Chin, Kono and Lou are much more than your dad’s friends, they are his and your ohana.”

Grace shook her head, “No…no they’re not. None of them even cared that Danno had an operation to give Uncle Steve half his liver, all they cared about was Uncle Steve was going to get better…”

“That’s not true.” Duane tried gently to reassure her as he eased the car into a parking spot and turned to look at Grace, his chest tightened as Grace turned back to look at him.

“It is true.” Grace said quietly, the hurt and anguish easily readable in her eyes as she continued, “Lou is more Uncle Steve’s partner now than Danno is and last night not one of them even gave Danno a get-well card. None of them even cared that Danno now only has half a liver as well, they were all more interested in Uncle Steve.”

Duane felt slightly ill as he remembered noticing the many cards gifts and get-well balloons that had adorned Steve’s side of the room and the single get well card, he and Beth had helped Grace and Charlie make for their dad, sitting on Danny’s bedside table. He had also glimpsed the hurt that was not only Danny’s eyes but also Grace’s eyes when the others had laughed and joked that all the gifts cards and get well wishes were for Steve, that there was no get well wishes at all left for Danny.

Tears began to run down Grace’s face as she swallowed hard, “You saw what they did when they all left last night. They didn’t think I would notice but I did, they only said good night and shook Steve’s hand, it was like they forgot Danno was even there.” Her tears turned to sobs as Duane slowly rolled the car to a stop as they pulled into a parking spot in the hospital parking lot and turned, reaching for Grace as he pulled her into a hug as she sobbed brokenheartedly into his chest, “I should never have told Danno that I wanted to stay here…”

 


	7. Chapter 7

Chin sighed as he hit the disconnect button after calling Dog and asking him to bring Grace and Charlie to the hospital before he turned and walked back into Danny’s room. He silently stood near the door and waited for the nurse to do her half hourly check on Danny’s condition and leave the room before he walked back to the side of the bed. Sighing again, he looked down at his extremely ill friend as he gently placed his hand on Danny’s bare shoulder, being careful not to knock the IV, in an attempt to let Danny know he was not alone.

Lightly squeezing the far too warm shoulder under his hand, he swallowed hard and cleared his throat before he slowly shook his head and quietly admonished Danny, “You know Brah, Lou is right, you’re the one we depend on to make sure McGarrett doesn’t go too ninja on us, you’re not the one who is supposed to end up here in the ICU. He was also right about another thing as well, that we never did thank you for what you did, not only donating part of your liver to save McGarrett but also for saving not only McGarrett, but also yourself, by landing that plane. I guess we got caught up in the moment of knowing that Steve was going to be okay.” Chin paused and shook his head as he guiltily admitted, “But that’s not a good enough excuse for the way we treated you after everything you did. All I can say is I’m sorry, Danny, and I promise that I’m not going anywhere.”

Hooking his foot around the chair leg behind him, he pulled the chair closer as he slid his hand down so it rested on Danny’s arm, not wanting to lose the physical contact with his friend for a moment as he sat down. “Lou and Kono have gone back with Steve to his room to make sure he doesn’t try to make a break and come back here but I bet he will be back as soon as he can talk the doctor into letting him visit or as soon as he can sneak out of his room.  And Dog is bringing Grace and Charlie for an early morning visit and your parents and sisters are flying over from the mainland, they should be here sometime this evening.” Chin told Danny, aware that he was rambling.

Studying Danny’s damp, pale face he took a deep breath before he asked his unconscious friend the question that was bothering him, “Why didn’t you tell us that your dad had a heart attack? Why did you keep it to yourself?”

He sighed, not one hundred percent sure that he really wanted the answer to that question as his eyes wandered to the single get -well card that sat on the table beside Danny’s ICU bed.  A wave of guilt rippled through his soul as he realized he probably already knew the answer as the words he had told Kono only an hour before echoed through his mind- ‘ _Maybe he thought we just wouldn't care…’_

 “Danno didn’t tell you because he said that you all had other things to worry about but I know that the real reason he didn’t want any of you to know was Danno knew none of you would have cared.” Chin turned towards the door as Grace entered the room, followed by Charlie, who was clinging to Duane’s hand tightly as he looked wide eyed in fear and confusion at his father in the bed. Walking across to the edge of the bed, Grace stopped, too scared of hurting Danno any more than he was hurting by touching him as she stared at the various, drips, tubes and machines that were attached to him. Swallowing hard as she tried not to cry again, she whispered brokenheartedly as she turned and looked at Chin, her eyes silently challenging him to tell her that what she was saying wasn’t true as the tears began to roll down her face, “None of you care about Danno or us anymore. You all say that you’re our ohana, and Danno’s friends, but that’s just a big fat lie.”


	8. Chapter 8

Helping Steve out of the wheelchair, Lou growled in annoyance as the phone in his pocket began to vibrate and ring.

“Aren’t you going to answer that?” Steve frowned as Lou carefully helped him sit down on the edge of the bed.

Lou sighed loudly as he removed the phone from his pocket and glanced at the caller ID. Stabbing the accept button, he turned and walked out of the room as he snapped, “Grover.”  He returned less than a minute later, just as Steve carefully swung his legs up onto the bed and Kono covered them with the sheet. “That was the Governor’s office, they said Chin isn’t answering his phone.” He told them as Steve and Kono turned and looked expectantly towards him.

“He probably has it on mute or turned off while he is in the ICU with Danny.” Steve said as the nurse adjusted the pillows behind his back.

 Lou nodded distractedly as he glanced at Kono. “The governor wants you, me and Chin in his office now.”

“Did they say why?” Kono frowned as she looked up at Lou.

Lou shook his head, “No, all that his secretary said was he wanted to see the three of us now.” Looking back at Steve, he frowned, “Will you be okay?”

Steve nodded as he settled tentatively back against the pillows and tried, unsuccessfully, to smother a moan as his stomach protested at the movement, “Yeah, go! I’m fine.”

Kono eyed him skeptically, “You’re going to stay in bed and rest, aren’t you, Boss?”

Allowing a small smile to grace his lips, Steve nodded as he looked at Kono and lied, “Oh course I will.”

“Yeah, right!” Lou muttered as he turned and hurried out of the door with Kono reluctantly following behind.

H50 H50 H50

 “Grace,” Chin released his light hold on Danny’s arm as he slowly stood up and placed his hand on Grace’s shoulder, ignoring the hurt he felt when she angrily shrugged his hand away as he tried to reassure her softly, “that’s not true. Danno, Charlie and you are some of the most important people in my life. The three of you are just as much my ohana as Kono, Steve and Lou are and your dad is one of my closest friends.”

“It is true!” Grace turned away from him as she spun back towards the bed, clutching the bed rail tightly as she stared down at her father as she asked quietly. “Why are you even here, anyway? Why aren’t you with Uncle Steve?”

“I’m here because I want to be here. I know at the moment you don’t believe it, but your dad is ohana and I didn’t want him to be alone.”

“Chin!” Lou waited until Chin turned towards where he stood at the door. by the look on Chin’s face, he knew that he had just interrupted something as he glanced at Grace’s back before he said softly, “The governor wants to see us in his office now.”

“All of us?” Chin frowned, “Why?”

“Maybe he has a case for us or something.” Lou shrugged, “The only thing I do know is he wants you, Kono and me in his office now.”

Nodding at Lou, Chin looked back at Grace, “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

If Grace heard him, she completely ignored him as she continued to stare, white-faced, at her father.

Chin hesitated a moment, uncertain if he should leave.

“Hey Chin, we have to go. Governor’s waiting.”

“I’ll be back as soon as I can, Brah.” Chin promised his unconscious friend, lightly touching his arm before he turned and hurried towards the door.

Duane grabbed Chin’s arm as the upset man past him, momentarily stopping his egress from the room as he tried to reassure the obviously upset man, “She’s scared and upset, Chin, she’s just lashing out” 

Chin nodded as he looked back at Grace who was still holding on tightly to the bedrail as she stared down at her father, before he turned back at Duane and sighed, “I know. But she’s right,  Duane, we haven’t been good friends to Danny, we have taken him for granted, I just hope we get the chance to say sorry and make it up to him, to all three of them.”

Standing at the door, Duane watched as Chin turned and followed Lou down the corridor towards doors to the unit. Turning back, he crossed to the bed and carefully lowered the bed rail before he picked up Charlie and sat him on the side of the bed next to Danny. “You can hold his hand. I think your dad would like that.” He told Grace quietly as he watched Charlie closely to ensure that he did not accidentally touch or pull any of the IV’s tubes or medical equipment attached to Danny.

Grace swallowed hard as she nervously reached for Danny’s hand and carefully slipped her own hand into his. “Do you think he knows we’re here?” she whispered, her voice trembling.

“Yeah, I think he does.”

“Do you think he can hear us as well?” Grace asked looking back up at Duane.

 “Why don’t you talk to him just in case he can.”

Looking back at Danny, Grace squeezed his hand as several tears ran down her face and dripped onto the bed, leaving a trail of small wet stains on the white sheet as leaned down and kissed Danny on the cheek, “I love you, Danno.”

“Love you, Danno.” Charlie parroted, twisting around on the bed to watch his sister before climbing onto his knees and kissing his father.

Standing up straight again, Grace stood silently staring down at Danny, her tears now falling free as she whimpered, “I…I don’t want you to die.”

Placing his hand lightly on Grace’s back, Duane felt his heart break just a little more for both kids as he found himself blinking back his own tears.  “You know Grace, I haven’t known your dad for long but what I do know after meeting and getting to know him a little and after seeing the type of man he is, I know your dad is a fighter. I also know your dad loves you and Charlie with all his heart and he is not going to give up without a fight. And you shouldn’t give up on him either. Your dad has a big heart, one of the biggest hearts I have ever seen and no matter what does happen, you should be proud of him. He’s a hero, not only for landing that plane and saving both his and Steve’s lives but also for donating part of his liver to Steve when Steve needed it. Not many people would do that, even for a friend.”

“They’re not his friends. Not real friends.” Grace whispered through her tears.

Deliberately keeping his attention focussed on Charlie and Danny, Duane asked softly, “Don’t you think you’re being just a little bit hard on them?”

Grace shook her head.

Duane frowned, glancing at her as he quietly continued, “I know what they did was wrong, I’m not saying it wasn’t, but have you ever had a really, really, good friend who you know will always be there for you? Who will always have your back, no matter what? Even when sometimes you forget to ask them to go to the mall with you or even when you don’t always go over their place to just hang out?”

Grace nodded silently.

“And have you ever realized that sometimes you forget to say thank you when they do things for you without you having to ask them to? Or sometimes you forget to tell them how much you love them and how important they are to you because you think they already know.”

Swallowing hard, Grace nodded slowly again.

“But that doesn’t mean you love them any less or you are not their friend, does it?” Duane asked, turning to look at Grace.

“I…I guess not.”

“It means that you have started taking all the things they do for you for granted, and although that makes you a bad friend, it doesn’t mean that you don’t care about them or love them any less, does it?”

Grace swallowed hard as she looked back down at her father and reluctantly nodded.

“Did you know that Chin came straight away when Steve called him at three o’clock this morning to tell him about your dad being rushed back into surgery? Both Lou and Kono came as soon as Chin called them and the three of them have been here with Steve, waiting for updates on your dad, ever since. In fact, Chin told the doctors he was staying with your dad so he wouldn’t be alone, even after he was told they were only allowed to visit your dad for just five minutes. And I know Steve would also remain by your dad’s side if the doctors would let him, although, I would not be surprised if he tries to pull some sort of a Navy SEAL move and escape from his room to come back here as soon as he can. Now does that sound like they aren’t your dad’s friends or like they don’t love your dad like ohana?”

Chewing her bottom lip, Grace slowly shook her head, her grip on Danny’s hand grew a little tighter.

“I know how they treated your dad last night was wrong but I don’t think they did it deliberately. I don’t think they really thought at all. I think it was more just a case that they had thought that Steve was going to die and then they were just so relieved that he was going to be alright.” Duane explained quietly as he looked back at Danny, “I don’t think anyone, even the doctors, and your dad himself, realized how seriously hurt your dad was after the accident, and I also don’t think that Chin, Kono, Lou or any of your dad’s other friends really realized the risks your dad was taking by donating part of his liver. I don’t think your dad wanted them or you to worry. That’s just the kind of man your dad is, thinking about others first rather than himself.”

“Your dad is definitely a very special type of man.” The nurse said as she entered the room and moved to the side of the bed, glancing up at the readings on the heart machine before she looked down at Danny and then looked back up at Grace. “And you should feel very proud of him. Not many people would do what your dad did for his partner.” she continued as she took his temperature. Glancing at the reading on the thermometer, she frowned as she slipped the BP cuff around Danny’s limp arm and took his blood pressure. Her frown deepened as she released the pressure in the cuff and read the reading before re-inflating it again and retaking it. Forcing a small smile when she had finished, she looked back up at Grace, Duane and Charlie, she added, “But your dad needs to rest so I’m afraid that your visit is over for now.”

Seeing the concern on the nurse’s face as she walked around the end of the bed and quickly jotted down the results on the chart that hung at the end of the bed, Duane nodded as he looked back at Grace and Charlie as the nurse turned and hurried out of the room. “It’s time to go, guys, Danno needs to rest. We’ll come back a little later, I promise.” He told them as he lifted Charlie up to kiss his father before he placed the small boy back onto the ground. Quickly pulling the bed rail back up, he turned and gently grabbed Charlie’s hand before he led him out of the room.

“I love you, Danno.” Grace whispered as she kissed Danny’s face before she reluctantly turned and followed Duane out of the room.


	9. Chapter 9

Looking up from the letter she was typing as the three Five 0 task force members entered the office, Leilani smiled, nodding towards her boss's ornate office door as she told them quietly, "Go straight in, he's waiting for you."

Chin nodded as he led Lou and Kono across to the door, before knocking lightly on it. He waited until he heard the governor call out for them to enter before opening it and entering with Lou and Kono right behind him.

"Chin, Lou, Kono, please take a seat." Governor Denning told them as he looked back down and scribbled his name at the bottom of the piece of paper in the folder that was sitting on the desk in front of him before closing the file and pushing it aside as he waited for them to sit down on the three chairs arranged in front of his desk. Looking back up at the three Five 0 members, he clasped his hands on the desk in front of him as he leaned forward and began. "I know the three of you are probably wondering why I asked you to come here today." The three of them nodded as he continued, "I have been thinking about what Danny Williams did both landing that plane, saving not only his but McGarrett's life after McGarrett was shot but also afterward, his donation of half of his liver to save McGarrett's life a second time. His actions in landing that plane on the beach were heroic and his actions of leading the raid and the arrest of Dae Won after the plane crash, went above and beyond the call of duty. Added to that his selfless act of donating half his liver," the Governor shook his head, still in awe of Danny actions, "I believe that Williams deserves to receive recognition for his actions and that's why I have decided to present him with the gold Medal of Valor in a public ceremony in the Palace after he and McGarrett are released from the hospital."

He paused and frowned as he saw Chin, Lou and Kono exchange quick uncomfortable glances between themselves. "Is there something I should know?" he asked cautiously.

He watched as Lou and Kono shifted in their seats and looked towards Chin. The distressed expressions on the three Five 0 officers and close friends warned Denning that something was seriously wrong as Chin cleared his throat before swallowing hard and looked across the desk at him.

"Danny's condition has deteriorated during the night." Chin began softly, "He was rushed back into surgery early this morning. His condition is now listed as critical and the doctors requested that we contact his family on the mainland, so they can have a chance to say their goodbyes. They are flying in from New jersey. Their plane is due to touch down about seven tonight."

"Complications?" the Governor stared at the three officers in front of him, shocked by the news of the condition of McGarrett's partner and Five 0's Second-In-Command, "I don't understand, what sort of complications?"

"Danny began to bleed internally after some of his internal stitches tore. The doctors said the stitches probably tore away after he coughed or moved a little too suddenly, apparently, which caused the massive internal bleeding. It's one of the complications that live liver donors can face." Chin paused as he looked at the wall behind the Governor as he struggled to remain professional, "When they rushed him back into surgery, they discovered that Danny was more seriously injured in the plane crash than any of us realized."

"More seriously injured? How?'"

"Danny suffered internal injuries in the plane crash that were missed both in the ER after the accident and then again when he was undergoing the liver donor transplant surgery."

"Internal injuries? What injuries?" Lou asked surprised, glancing at Chin and Kono before returning his attention back to Chin.

"The doctors discovered found a tear in Danny's intestine, the tear allowed bacteria and some of the contents of his intestines to leak out and caused a massive infection."

"Peritonitis?" the Governor asked.

Chin nodded and swallowed hard as Lou continued, "The doctors said they washed out as much of the contamination as they could and repaired the tear. They have started Danny on high doses of antibiotics but after the heavy blood loss from the stitches tearing away and the fact he had just undergone the donor operation, it…it doesn't look hopeful."

"You said his family is arriving this evening?"

Chin nodded, "The plane is due in about seven."

"I will send my car to collect them and take them directly to the hospital." Denning told Lou, Chin, and Kono before he added, "My office will also pay for their fares and accommodation while they are here. It's the least the State of Hawaii can do after what Danny did."

"Thank you, Sir." Chin said softly.

"What about Danny's children, I understand that he now also has custody of his young son as well as custody of his daughter? Where are they now?"

"They are at the hospital with Duane Chapman." Chin told him.

"Chapman, the bonds bailsman?" The Governor frowned.

"Danny and Duane have become good friends. Danny trusts Duane and Beth with the kids." Lou interrupted. "The doctors thought that it was best for Grace and Charlie if they had some time some time with Danny to say good bye as well."

The Governor nodded as he rose from his chair and walked around his desk. "I guess that you all want to get back to the hospital. I bet McGarrett is driving the medical staff insane by now. I doubt that he will want to leave Williams's side."

Rising from their chairs, Lou, Kono, and Chin nodded as Denning joined them and walked them to the door. "If there is anything Danny's family needs or anything my office can do, don't hesitate in contacting me and letting me know." He told them as Lou opened the door before he added, "And please keep me updated on Danny's condition. If there is any change I want to be told immediately."

"Yes, Sir." Kono nodded before she followed Lou and Chin out of the Governor's outer office.


	10. Chapter 10

“His BP is 76/55, his temp has risen to 104, resps 30, and his pulse is 124 and bounding,” The nurse told the surgeon as they hurried into Danny’s room.

“How is his urine output?” Dr Mullins frowned as he began to examine is critically ill patient as Danny struggled to breath.

The nurse shook her head as she placed the patient’s medical chart on the bedside table she turned and grabbed the clipboard at the end of the bed before handing it to him to peruse, “Not good.”

Glancing at the clipboard, he handed it back to the nurse before he slipped the stethoscope into his ears and carefully began to listen to Danny’s chest. Removing the stethoscope, his frown deepened as he straightened up and folded back the sheets before he peeled back the tape and lifted the large dressing that covered Danny’s stomach and began to examine the red and swollen suture line. “Have we got the lab results back, yet?”

“They just sent the results through.” The nurse told him as he lowered the dressing and carefully stuck the tape back down. “What do you think we are dealing with? Sepsis?”

Accepting the medical chart, Mullins nodded as he glanced at the sheet of paper containing the results of the pus samples collected after surgery and the blood tests that were taken immediately after Danny’s admission to ICU before he looked back at Danny. “I was hoping that we could get on top of the peritonitis but knowing how long the tear in his intestine was left untreated before we discovered it and with his weakened condition after the donor operation and the loss of blood, it was just a case of wishful thinking.” Mullins sighed as he pulled a pen out of his pocket and started to scribble his orders into the chart as he continued,” OK, let’s add Levofloxacin to the Vancomycin and the Ceftazidime. Also, let’s commence him on Levophed to try and get his blood pressure up.” Placing the chart back onto the table, he placed the stethoscope back in his ears before listening to Danny’s breath sounds again. Looking back up at the nurse as he removed the stethoscope and slowly hung it back around his neck. “I want another round of blood work done, we may also need to start him on dialysis if his urine output doesn’t pick up soon.” Looking back at Danny, he added, “Also, page the respiratory therapist, I think Angela is on call this morning, tell her we have a patient who needs ventilating stat.”

The nurse nodded silently as she accepted back the chart before she turned and hurried towards the door to carry out his orders.

“Do you know if his friends managed to contact his family yet?” The surgeon asked quietly.

Pausing as she reached the door, she turned and nodded, “His two children have just left after visiting him and I think his parents and sisters are due in sometime this evening.”

“Good.” The surgeon murmured distractedly as he looked up at the heart monitor and shook his head at the figures he was reading.

H50 H50 H50

Sitting a little higher up in his bed, Steve ignored the muted, flickering screen of the TV that the nurse had switched on before she had left the room, as he looked up for the umpteen time since Kono and Lou had left, and stared at the second hand on the clock on the wall. It felt like an eternity for the second hand to marked each minute that passed and Steve sighed. It had been over an hour since Chin, Kono and Lou had been called into the Governor’s office and the thought of Danny alone in that ICU room was driving him crazy. He needed to be by Danny’s side.

Glancing up at the heart monitor on the table beside the bed, McGarrett’s eyes grew wide as he realized that the nurse had forgotten to reconnect the monitor after his return to the ward. Biting his bottom lip as he wrapped his arm protective across his stomach, he threw the sheet off his legs before he turned and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. Gingerly standing up, he grabbed the bedside table, closing his eyes as he waited for a wave of dizziness that threatened to topple him to pass.

Slowly opening his eyes, he cautiously released the death grip he held on the table as he looked around the room, spotting the portable drip stand still standing in the corner. A small triumphant smile graced his lips as he gingerly reached up and unhooked his drip from the bedside stand before he made his way across to the stand. Quickly grabbing the stand when he reached it, he was grateful for its comforting support. He paused a moment to allow the deep throb from his protesting stomach to ease a little before he rehung his drip on the stand and slowly wheeled it across to the door.

Pausing a moment as he reached the door, he opened it and cautiously poked his head out into the corridor before looking around, checking for any nurses. Seeing no one around and the nurse’s station empty, he wheeled his drip out into the corridor and limped as fast as he could towards the elevator at the end of the ward. Hitting the button, he was relieved when the doors slid instantly open before he stumbled inside and hit the button for the floor where the ICU was located. He felt the elevator jerk and begin to rise as he leaned back against the wall and waited for the doors to open.


	11. Chapter 11

“Let’s also add some Metronidazole to his antibiotics,” Dr Mullins told the nurse as he opened the chart up the pen and picked up the pen, “That should give him complete ….” The nurse frowned when the surgeon suddenly stopped talking in mid-sentence and stared over her shoulder down the corridor, “What the hell?” he muttered as he dropped the pen onto the desk before hurrying past her

Turning the nurse frowned as the ICU entrance doors opened and the unsteady man, clutching onto a portable drip stand for support entered the unit.

“Commander McGarrett! What are you doing here?” the surgeon demanded as he reached Steve and grabbed him gently by the shoulders to steady Steve as he glanced back over his shoulder and ordered, “I need a wheelchair here!” Turning back to Steve, he growled in frustration, “I thought I told you that you were to go back to your room and rest.”

“I did.” Steve answered distractedly as the nurse appeared with the wheelchair and helped him to sit down. Grateful that he no longer had to worry about collapsing, Steve looked back up at the surgeon as he added softly, “Look Doc, I know Chin had to go and see the Governor and Danny’s alone.”

“Commander, you have just undergone a liver transplant…” Mullins began.

“I know Doc, but…” Swallowing hard, Steve ran his hand over his head and left it, momentarily forgotten, on the back of his neck as he glanced towards Danny’s room before he looked back at Dr Mullins and pleaded, “Listen Doc, Danny’s more than just my partner and my closest friend, Danny’s ohana… “

Mullins rubbed his chin as he glanced towards his critically ill patient’s room before he turned and looked back at the anxious man now sitting in the wheelchair, aware that no matter what he decided McGarrett would still find a way to get into Williams’s room. He sighed and nodded reluctantly, “Okay, you can stay but only on the condition that you rest in the chair beside his bed. And if you start to become tired or need pain relief, I expect you to ask one of the nurses to return you to your room to rest.”

“I will.” Steve nodded in agreement.

“I’m sure you will." Mullins muttered in disbelief before nodding at the nurse, who had connected the drip stand to the chair and was hovering around, that she could leave. Grabbing the handles of the wheelchair. he wheeled Steve across to empty visitor’s waiting area before he walked around and took a seat across from Steve, “Before we go in, we need to talk.” He began, holding his hand up to silence the worried Five 0 Commander before Steve could talk or ask any questions, “I’m afraid that Detective Williams’s condition has deteriorated, unfortunately, some of the bacteria that leaked out of the tear in his intestines and caused the peritonitis has gotten into his blood stream. Detective Williams is exhibiting the first stages of sepsis.”

“Sepsis?” Steve managed to croak as he tasted the hot bile rise in the back of his throat. Swallowing hard, he forced himself to whisper, “How…how bad?”

“We’ve caught it in its early stages and have started him on a cocktail of antibiotics. We have also placed him on a ventilator to allow him to rest and try and regain some strength, but with the blood loss, the donor surgery and the injuries in his intestines that were left untreated for so long.” Mullins paused and shook his head, “I just don’t know if he is strong enough to battle the sepsis as well. But we’re doing everything we can.” 

Steve nodded, unable to speak as the very real fear that he was about to lose his closest friend terrified him.

“He’s heavily sedated,” Steve blinked and looked up at Mullins as he realized the surgeon was still talking to him, “but it’s possible that he may know that you are in the room with him or is able to hear you talking to him.” Steve nodded again, not trusting his voice to talk, as the surgeon rose from his seat and began to push the wheelchair towards Danny’s room as he reminded Steve again, “Remember if you start getting tired or need pain relief, you are to ask the nurse to return you to your room and rest. You won’t do your partner any good if you end up in an ICU bed beside him.”

H50 H50 H50

Glancing again at the message she had received on her phone as she waited the elevator doors closed and she felt the elevator jerk and shudder before it began its slow ascent, the blonde haired young woman felt the tears sting her eyes. It wasn’t fair, it was only three years ago, they had lost Matt, now they were about to lose Danny too. She dropped the hand that was clutching the phone back down to her side, she leaned her head against the back wall and closed her eyes as she struggled not to cry.  She had to stay strong for Danny.

Quickly brushing the tears from her face as the elevator come to a sudden stop, she slipped her phone back into her bag before she stepped out as the elevator door opened and walked slowly towards the glass doors that led into the ICU. Stepping through the doors as the slid open, she hesitated and looked around, before she headed down the corridor towards the large nurse’s desk, glancing in each room she passed, searching for Danny.

“Can I help you?”

She jumped, startled, and turned towards the young Polynesian nurse who was standing behind her. “I’m Bridget Hawkins and my brother, Danny Williams is a patient here. My…my parents received a phone call this morning asking us to come as soon as we could.”


	12. Chapter 12

“Now remember, if you begin to get tired or need pain relief, you are to…”

“Tell the nurse and return to my room.” Steve completed the surgeon’s instructions distractedly as he stared at Danny in the bed as the surgeon wheeled him into the ICU room and across to the side of the bed.

Dr Mullins nodded aware that the Commander was only giving him lip service, there was no way that McGarrett was going to leave his partner. Placing on the brakes of the wheelchair, he shook his head in a combination of frustration and quiet admiration of the strong bond that was obviously shared between these two men as he helped Steve stand before he gently eased Steve down on the chair close to the bed. “Now remember,” he began to reiterate softly again as he looked at Steve’s anxious face, “you have just undergone major surgery yourself."

“I know.” Steve murmured as his eyes wandered over the various machines and tubes connected to Danny before he looked back at Danny’s pale face.

With a soft sigh, Mullins glanced up at the heart monitor, quickly reading the figures displayed on the screen, before he cast a final glance at Steve, vowing to keep a close eye on the Commander as he turned and left the room.

Hearing the surgeon's receding footsteps, Steve grabbed the bed rail and carefully pulled himself up onto his feet, wincing as his stomach protested at the strain it placed on his surgical wound. Reaching down, Steve gently grabbed Danny’s hand and gave it a light squeeze, “Hey, Danny, I’m here. I’m not going anywhere, I’m going to be right here with you, Buddy, when you open your eyes, I promise”

Danny’s eyelids fluttered but did not open as his fingers weakly curled around Steve’s hand and a tear slowly emerged from beneath his closed eyelid and trickled down the side of his face.

 Swallowing hard, in an attempt to remove the lump that had formed in his throat, Steve wiped away the tear with his thumb as he blinked away his own tears. Squeezing Danny’s hand a little harder, he whispered, “I love you, partner.”


	13. Chapter 13

"Oh my God, Danny!"

 Hearing the softly gasp behind him, Steve released Danny's hand before he slowly and gingerly turned towards the door to find himself staring at a young, slim, blonde haired woman as she entered the room. The resemblance between her and his partner was undeniable and he instantly knew that the young woman had to be one of Danny's sisters, either Bridget or Stella, as she slowly walked towards the bed, her eyes never leaving her brother.

 "Danny's a fighter, he's not going to give up without a fight." Steve tried to reassure her before he began to introduce himself, "Hi, I'm Steve…"

 "Steve McGarrett?" The young woman gave a weak smile, "Danny's partner."

 Steve nodded, gritting his teeth and grabbing the bed rail as his stomach muscles began to cramp as Bridget reached the side of the bed.

"I've heard a lot about you." She frowned as she grabbed Steve's arm and helped him to sit back down on the chair beside the bed as she asked, "Should you even be out of bed yet? I mean, you just underwent a liver transplant."

"I'm fine." Steve forced a small smile as he looked up at Danny's sister, "So, you're Danny's sister…"

"Oh sorry, I should have introduced myself, I'm Bridget, Danny's…"

"Danny's little sister." Steve nodded as he looked back over his shoulder at the door expectantly before he returned his attention back to Bridget in confusion, "I'm sorry but I thought you and your family were arriving in Honolulu this evening."

Bridget nodded, "Mum, dad and Stella are arriving tonight but I was already in Honolulu this morning when I got a text message from them telling me that I needed to come to Hawaii, that Danny was in ICU and the doctors were asking for all the family to come." She paused and chewed on her bottom lip as she turned back and looked at Danny. Reaching down, she gently brushed back Danny's hair with her fingers as she admitted softly, "They didn't know I was here, I told them I was on a business trip in San Francisco." Her voice hitched, as a tear rolled down her face, as she continued to run her fingers over Danny's hair, "I wanted to talk to Danny, alone, I wanted to find out what was going on with him, especially after Mom told me that he had reapplied for his old job in Homicide in Jersey but I didn't fly into Honolulu until late yesterday evening, I was planning to surprise him."

Steve looked up at her in surprise, "Did you say Danny reapplied for his old job back in Homicide in Jersey? When? Why?"

"Mom said he told her it was because he wanted to be closer after dad had his heart attack but I know there is something more going on." Bridget answered distractedly as she choked on a sob and turned to look at Steve, "But I don't understand what happened, I called the hospital last night to check on Danny's condition, the doctor I spoke to said he was stable, that he was looking good to be discharged in a few days and then this morning I got the text from mom saying that we needed to get to Honolulu immediately, that Danny's in the ICU and they don't think he's…Oh God, I don't want to lose Danny as well, not after we lost Matt!" she sobbed and turned back towards the bed.

Shaking her head, guiltily, she gently picked up Danny's hand as she continued softly, "I knew the last time he came home that something was wrong. He didn't talk about you or Five 0 or Hawaii like he usually does, in fact the only thing he would talk about was Grace and Charlie. I knew then that something was very wrong, especially after mom told me he had applied for his old job back, I should have got him to talk to me." Biting her bottom lip to stop it from trembling as she struggled to control the tears, she murmured to herself. "I should have got him to talk to me…"

 


	14. Chapter 14

“Wow, the gold Medal of Valor.” Kono shook her head in awe as she, Chin and Lou walked across the foyer of the capitol building and out of the capitol building’s entrance doors, “Danny really deserves it.”

 “I don’t think I could do what he did, not only landing that plane but then going after Dae Won, to get justice for Steve, despite the fact he was injured, and then donating half his liver to save Steve's life without even thinking about it."  Lou shook his head as they headed towards the car, “I can’t decide if he’s brave or if some of McGarrett’s craziness is rubbing off on him.”

“I think it could be a combination of both.” Kono nodded as she glanced across at Chin as they reached the car, she frowned, “You’re awfully quiet, Cous, is everything okay?”  
  
“I was just thinking of something Grace said.” Chin sighed, looking across the roof of the car at Kono and Lou as he continued, “When Dog brought Charlie and Grace to see in the ICU, Grace got quite upset to see me there and she demanded to know why I was there. She accused us of not being treating Danny, her or Charlie as ohana anymore, of not being Danny’s friends.”

“She was just upset, Brah,” Kono tried to reassure him.

 “She’s old enough to understand that she might lose her father,” Lou added softly, his heart breaking for Grace and Charlie as he tried to push away the thoughts of how his own kids would react if they lost him, “she’s scared and she’s hurting, so she is just striking out. Don’t take anything she says at the moment personally, I doubt she mean anything she said.”

Chin shook his head as they opened the car doors and climbed inside, “No, it’s more than Grace just striking out, she’s right, Lou. Danny’s had a rough couple of years with the custody battle with Rachel over Grace, everything that happened with Matt and his imprisonment in Columbia, then there was Amber, and to top it all of Rachel’s treatment of Danny when it came to Charlie. I don’t know how I would have handled being told my son wasn’t my son for four years and then being told out of the blue one day that he is my son and by the way he needs my bone marrow to save his life.”

“I agree he has had a rough couple of years…” Lou agreed. “But he’s strong, he has been holding it all together. He has custody of both of his kids…”

“But what if he isn’t as strong as we think?” Chin asked, looking at both his colleagues as Lou started the car.

“What do you mean?” Kono frowned.

“Listen, I know we agreed to give Danny some time and space so he could get to know and bond with Charlie better.” Chin began as he looked at his cousin in the back seat, “But what if we have given him too much space.” Looking back at Lou, he continued, “When was the last time, including Steve, that any of us went over to Danny’s just to spend some time with him or went out with just him for drinks after work?”

Lou frowned, turning off the car engine before he turned to look at Chin. “Not for a couple of months…”

Chin nodded, “Did either of you go and see him after he donated the bone marrow to Charlie? Because I know I didn’t.”

Both Kono and Lou slowly shook their heads guiltily.

“I thought that he would probably appreciate not having many visitors while he and Charlie recovered.” Kono answered softly.

“Me too,”  Chin admitted, “but maybe we were wrong.”

“But Danny knows we’re ohana, Chin.” Kono argued, as a small ripple of guilt rippled through her soul.

“Does he?” Chin challenged quietly.

“Of course he does,” Kono answered before adding a little uncertainly, “doesn’t he?”

Chin shrugged, “I’m not so sure anymore, Kono, if Danny knows we are still his ohana then why didn’t he tell us or Steve about his dad’s heart attack or why hasn’t he told any of us why he has been making so many trips to the mainland lately.”

“Now you mention it, I have noticed he has been talking less and less about himself.” Lou frowned, “I just put it down to everything that was happening in his life. I mean coping with a teenager, especially a teenage girl is bad enough, but add everything else that has happened between him and Rachel with Charlie…”

“I can’t help thinking that we do tend to take Danny for granted sometimes, we forget just what a great cop and what a generous guy he is sometimes because Danny is Danny and, well, Steve is Steve. But what if Grace is right about her and Danny feeling like they are being pushed aside? That Danny feels like he is no longer ohana.”

“It could explain why he seems to be pulling away lately.” Lou agreed slowly.

Chin shifted uncomfortably on the seat, and swallowed hard, “Last night after everything that happened, the plane crash, the possibility of Steve dying, Danny donating his liver…the liver transplant, I think we all reinforced that feeling that they were no longer part of the Five 0 ohana in both their minds.”

Kono blinked in surprise, unsure of what Chin was talking about as she asked softly, “I don’t understand, Chin, how?”

“All the cards and the get-well gifts Steve received.” Lou breathed as he remembered the look on both Danny’s and Grace’s faces after Danny had asked if any of the gets well cards were for him. At the time, it had seemed funny but now…

“But Danny got cards…” Kono paused as she looked wide- eyed at her companions as she realized that the only card Danny had received had been from Grace and Charlie. Blinking back the tears as she realized just how much they had accidentally hurt Danny, she felt her heart break at how they had treated such an important member of their little ohana as she whispered. “Poor Danny...”


	15. Chapter 15

Steve felt the wind rush out of his lungs and felt like he had just been punched hard in the guts as Bridget’s words echoed over and over again in his head as he stared at Danny in disbelief, unable and unwilling to quite believe what Bridget had just told him. _‘Danny had reapplied for his old job back in Homicide in Jersey.’_

There had to be some mistake, some misunderstanding on Bridget’s part, but deep down Steve knew there wasn’t. Danny was planning on leaving and had not said a word about his plans or even the reasons why to him. What the Hell was going on with his partner and closest friend? Why didn’t Danny talk to him about what was troubling him? After all they shared everything, even things that they would never tell anyone else.

A small ripple of guilt stabbed at Steve as he remembered how little he had really been there for Danny in the last few months. He had tried to give Danny the space he thought Danny needed to connect with Charlie and adjust becoming a dad to a desperately ill toddler as well as a teenager by partnering up more with Lou, and resisting the temptation to go hang out with Danny and the kids, like he used to when it was just Danny and Grace. He had tried to let Danny know he was there by sharing their own little personal jokes but last night he had to admit with the tension in the room between himself and Danny, his joke may have gone too far. The last thing he had ever wanted to do was hurt the man he loved with all his heart. 

“There’s so many things I want to tell Danny, that I want him awake to hear me say. Things like how awesome a big brother he has been and how much I love him.” Steve blinked in surprise and looked up at his partner’s younger sister as he realized that Bridget was still talking to him as the tears ran freely down her face. “Also, I want to tell him how sorry I am. I can’t believe how hurtful I was to him about Grace and Charlie. I should have known how much he was hurting both times but I just couldn’t believe what he was allowing Rachel to do to him. I guess I was more angry at Rachel for how she was treating him and how Danny allowed her to.”

“I don’t understand.” Steve frowned.

Biting her bottom lip as she looked back at her brother, Bridget swallowed hard as she trailed the back of her fingers lightly down the side of Danny’s still face, “I couldn’t just believe it when Danny let Rachel bring Grace to Hawaii with Stan after their divorce. It wasn’t like Danny to abandon Grace and let her go without a fight. He loves Grace with all his heart, she is his whole world, she is his life.”

Steve nodded silently in agreement, aware of just how much Danno loved his Gracey and just how far Danny was willing to go to protect her.

“I know he thought he was doing what he thought was best for her, that he was only a cop and he couldn’t give her the type of life he thought Rachel and Stan could. But he was wrong! He was miserable and so was Grace. One night, a few weeks after Rachel, Stan and Grace had moved to Hawaii, he got drunk and ended up at my place. I told him if he really wanted to be a part of his daughter’s life, he had to fight for her, show her that she was the most important person in his life. The very next day, he quit his job with Jersey PD and was on the plane to Hawaii to fight for visitation and custody of Grace.

And then Rachel did it to him again. She made him think that they could be a family again. She told him the baby she was expecting was his and then she deliberately tore his heart out and crushed it beneath her heel when she lied to him and told him that she was wrong, that the baby was Stan’s and that she was going back to Stan to try and make their marriage work. I told him then, and then told him again when Charlie was born to demand a DNA test, to make sure that Charlie wasn’t his but he refused. He believed that Rachel would never be so cruel.”

Bridget laughed sadly as she shook her head, “But she was. I was so angry for Danny, at Danny, for allowing Rachel to break his heart again and for allowing her to deny him the first four years of Charlie’s life of getting to know and bond with his son especially when Rachel finally admitted the truth and told him Charlie needed the bone transplant. I accused him a second time of abandoning one of his children, of abandoning Charlie instead of fighting for him by not insisting on a simple DNA test when Charlie was born, just like how he abandoned Grace a few years before. But I was wrong, so wrong, and I never should have said those things to him. I never meant them, I never believed them. I was just so angry at what he allowed Rachel to do to him that I lashed out. And now I might not get to tell him how sorry I am.”

Danny listened to the disjointed words and pieces of conversation that softly flittered through the darkness. Steve had been right when he had told him that Charlie would grow up hating him as much as Steve did. And who could blame Charlie if he did. After all, as he had heard Bridget just tell Steve, he had abandoned Charlie when he was born, believing Rachel’s words rather than his own gut instinct, when Rachel had told him Charlie was Stan’s son and not his. Just like how he had abandoned Grace after the divorce when Rachel had insisted on bringing her to Hawaii.

No wonder why all his friends, his Hawaiian ohana, had abandoned him after they found out Charlie was his, why anything he did or said was simply dismissed by them as ‘Just being Danny’.  They had seen the type of man he was, the type of man who would abandon his children, the type of man who destroyed everything he touched, like his marriage to Rachel, his friendship with Steve, Chin and Kono. Hell, he had even managed to get Matt killed, he should have arrested Matt at the airport, instead he had let Matt escape right into the hands of the men who had murdered him. Deep down, he knew he deserved his friends’ disdain but still he felt his heart break just a little more as the voices faded away and he drifted back into the darkness.

Gritting his teeth, against the wave of nausea and light headedness and pains of protest from his tired stomach muscles and the newly sutured wound as he gingerly grabbed the rails of the bed and pulled himself up off the chair, Steve gently placed a hand on Bridget’s back as he tried hard to reassure her. “I think Danny knows that you never meant what you said to him. You’re his sister, he knows that you only had his and the kids' best interests at heart. Brothers and sisters fight and say things they don’t really mean to each other, I know my sister Mary and I have, but the important thing is that we always forgive and forget. We know what was said in the heat of the moment was not was really meant.

 And I do know how much Danny loves you and I know he would tell you in a heartbeat that he knows you were sorry as soon as you said those things.” Steve took a deep breath as he looked down at Danny, “Besides you are not the only one who has apologies to make to him when he wakes up. And he is going to wake up and recover from this.”

Bridget frowned and looked up questioningly at Steve.

Shaking his head in regret and guilt, Steve admitted, “Last night before all this happened, I told Danny that Charlie would grow up hating him just as much as I did.”

“Why would you even say that?” Bridget asked, momentarily shocked at Steve’s guilt-filled admission.

“I…I didn’t mean it. I was joking,” Steve rubbed a shaking hand over his head as he looked down at Danny, “telling each other that we hate each other is a private joke between the two of us. You see shortly after Danny and I become partners, um, not that I really gave Danny a choice in being my partner, he punched me in the mouth and told me how much he hated me.”

Steve shrugged at Bridget’s confused stare as he tried to explain, “Anyway since then, it’s become a little joke between the two of us. But last night, Danny was irritable and I guess I overstepped the line and Danny took what I said to heart. I never meant what I said.  and I would never do anything or say anything deliberately to hurt him, but I did. I was going to let him cool down before I apologized this morning, but I didn’t get the chance.”

Clearing his throat, Steve turned and looked Bridget in the eye. She could see the guilt, the regret and the fear in his face as he continued softly, “Danny is an awesome guy, he’s more to me than just my closest friend and one of the best dads I have ever met. He loves those kids with all his heart and I know there is nothing he wouldn’t do for them.” Steve paused as he looked back at Danny and whispered, “There’s nothing he wouldn’t do for any of us, including risking his own life to save mine.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The admissions made by Bridget about accusing Danny abandoning his kids are why I think she made the comment to him in the episode she appeared in about how she did not abandon her kids like Danny had done. :)


	16. Chapter 16

“Jersey is my brother from another mother,” Eric tried to smother a smile as he listened as Kamekona pleaded with the nurse to be allowed to visit Danny, “we’re ohana, little Sis.”

“I’m sorry, Sir, but Mr Williams can only have two immediate family members or visitors on the doctors pre-approved list visiting him at a time and there are already two visitors with him at the moment.” The nurse patiently explained to Kamekona for the third time in as many minutes before quickly adding, “Now if you will excuse me, I really need to get back to my patients. You are welcome to wait here in the waiting room with Mr Williams’s other friends.”

“But …” Kamekona continued as Eric stood up and wandered across to where he was standing, still pleading with the nurse as she attempted to turn away and leave.

“Forget it, Brah,” Eric told him quietly as Eric placed a hand lightly on the Hawaiian’s shoulder, “I tried to get in to visit Uncle D and got told the same thing. Guess we will just have to wait our turn.” Nodding back at the chairs, he suggested, “So why don’t you sit down and make yourself comfortable, it could be a long wait until we hear how Uncle D is doing or get to see him.”

“Hey Brah, what happened to Jersey’s get well card I gave you to give him yesterday?” Kamekona frowned as he turned and looked at Eric as Eric gently guided him across to the chairs where several HPD detectives and officers were waiting for word on the critically ill Five 0 detective.

“It’s hanging up with all the other cards and Get-Well messages on Uncle D’s living room wall.” Eric reassured the large Hawaiian before adding, “Remember I told you that I’m collecting all the get-well cards and gifts and I am going to let Uncle D think that no one gave him any while he is in hospital so I can surprise him with a ‘Hero’ party when he gets home from the hospital…”

“I don’t think that’s a real good idea, Brah…” Kamekona frowned as he sat down on the chair next, remembering the hurt look he had seen on Danny’s face, the night before, when Steve had received all the cards and get well wishes and he had received nothing.

“What’s not a good idea?” Duke asked as he entered the small waiting room.

The two men jumped guiltily and looked up at the HPD sergeant who was looking at them expectantly, waiting for an answer.

“Ummm, I was just telling Kamekona about the surprise party that I am planning to throw Uncle D when he is well enough to get out of here.” Eric answered quietly.

“A surprise party?” Duke frowned, glancing at Kamekona who suddenly seemed more interested about a small stain on his shirt than joining in the conversation before returning his attention back onto the young man who was now shifting in discomfort on the chair under his questioning stare.

“Umm, yeah,” Eric answered, suddenly uncertain if his surprise ‘hero’ party idea was such a good idea as he looked up at Duke and shrugged, “A sort of a ‘hero’ party, you know to show Uncle D how everyone thinks he’s a hero for everything he did…landing the plane and …you know… the whole liver donating thing.” Duke nodded as Eric rushed on, “Anyway, I thought it would be great if I let Uncle D think no one cared about what he did by collecting all the get-well cards and stuff before he got them. I was going to use them to decorate his living room so when he gets home, Uncle D would get a surprise when he realizes just how many people know what a great guy he is…” Eric shrugged, a little embarrassed at how silly his plan actually sounded as he sighed and looked down at his hands in his lap, blushing, “It sounds a little childish, I know, I just wanted to show Uncle D just what an awesome guy he is, you know? ”

Duke nodded before he said quietly, “I have to agree with Kamekona on this one, Brah, I know your heart is in the right place but I don’t think it’s a good idea letting Danny think that no one cares enough to even give him a get-well card, especially after everything he has been dealing with over the last few months.”

 “You’re right.” Eric sighed and nodded as he reluctantly agreed before he looked back up at Duke and asked, “Do you think the nurses here would mind us decorating his room with all the cards and gifts he’s got, so he gets a surprise when he wakes up?”

 “You can always ask them.” Duke smiled, “And I think Danny would like waking up to seeing all the cards showing him how much everyone cares.”


	17. Chapter 17

“Whoa,” Chin gasped in surprise as the elevator doors swooshed open and he stepped out, only to be almost knocked over by Eric as the younger man rushed breathlessly past him and into the elevator. “What’s the rush, Brah, has something happened to Danny?” he asked worriedly as he grabbed the elevator door to prevent it from closing.

“Ah, no, not that I know of.” Eric answered before adding, “Not that I have been able to see him yet, the nurses are only allowing two visitors in with him at a time and Steve and someone else are already in there with him.”

“Then where are you going?” Lou frowned, not surprised that Steve was now with Danny after they had not found him resting in his own room.

“Just back to Uncle D’s place, there’s something there that I need to grab for Uncle D.” Eric answered as Chin released the door and he stabbed the button to take him down to the lobby. “I won’t be long.” he promised as the door slid closed.

“I wonder what’s so important that he had to go back to Danny’s place to get?” Kono mused, staring at the closed doors of the elevator for a moment before she turned and followed Chin and Lou through the doors that led into the ICU.

“Chin, Kono, Lou.”

 The three Five 0 colleagues turned back towards the ICU doors as Dog and Beth entered with Grace.

Nodding silently at Beth in a silent request for her to take Grace ahead to Danny’s room, Dog hurried across to join the trio who had stopped and were waiting for him at the waiting room door. “We need to talk, Bruddahs, about Danny. Grace and Charlie.” He told them quietly as he reached them, nodded towards a quiet corner of the waiting room.

“What about them?” Kono asked cautiously as Chin’s words in the car and in the hospital corridor earlier came back to haunt her.

“Grace told Beth and I about how she, Danny and Charlie no longer feel like they are part of the Five 0 ohana. In fact, Danny no longer even feels that he is even a productive member of your team, he feels as if he is just being tolerated." Dog took a deep breath before he continued, hating how much his words were hurting his friends but even more aware that they desperately needed to hear what Grace had told him and Beth, "Did you know that he has been talking about resigning and going back to Jersey? Or that he has even gone back to court to get permission to take the kids to live back on the mainland? The only reason why he hasn’t left Hawaii yet is because Grace wanted to stay. And if after what I saw happened last night, when Steve got all the attention, cards and gifts and Danny was ignored and laughed at when he asked if any of the cards were his, is any indication of how Danny has been getting treated as part of your ohana, I can understand why he and Grace may feel the way they do." Shaking his head, Dog added gently. "I know that all of you wanted to give Danny some space but maybe it wasn't space he needed, maybe he needed his ohana." Looking at the three members of the five 00 team, he suggested, "Maybe he and Grace and Charlie still do."

H50 H50 H50

_“How about this, if I hadn’t of taken those bullets for you, it would be my liver in your body, how about that.” He smirked as he turned and looked at his partner in the bed next to him, unsure just why not being able to watch a stupid football game had ended up a rant about how Danny had donated part of his liver to him and saved his life._

_“Hold on, you didn’t save my life, Steve, you were on the wrong side of the plane when we got shot at, that’s A and B, and if the roles were reversed here there is zero chance that you would be giving me a piece of your liver, okay, no chance.”_

_“How could you even say that? You saying I’m not generous?” He frowned, turning to look at Danny in utter disbelief, insulted that Danny would even say such a thing, let alone even think it._

_“No, you are not generous. I have never seen you take your wallet out of your pocket, there’s no way you are giving me one of your vital organs.” Danny continued to rant, ignoring his attempts to defend himself._

_“Hey, if this liver comes with your negative attitude, I swear to God I am going to cut it out myself,” he growled as his annoyance grew at his partner’s ongoing full-blown, unprovoked rant._

_“Crazy, it’s crazy,” He watched as Danny threw his hands in the air in frustration and continued to rant, becoming more and more animated in his misplaced anger, “it’s not like I am asking for a thank you, Steve, I’m not saying give me a gift or a speech or anything like that but you…you’re just…you’re a big giant ingrate! You know, my son, whom I gave bone marrow to, my four-year-old son was more grateful than you are…”_

Steve jerked awake, momentarily confused as to where he was as he rubbed his face, trying to chase the last tendrils of the dream that still clung to him away as he tried to slow his breathing and slow his racing heart.

“Are you alright?” Bridget asked worriedly as she stared at Steve’s damp, pale face. “Do you need me to get a nurse or anyone? You really should be resting in bed yourself.”

Taking a deep breath, Steve shook his head, “I’m okay, it was just a dream,” he murmured as he swallowed as he realized just how true Danny’s rant really was about just ungrateful he had been towards his closest friend, not only about Danny donating part of his liver and saving his life, no he had been ungrateful for so much more that Danny had done. Looking across at Danny, he swallowed hard as he realized just how much over the last six years he had begun to take his friendship with Danny for granted. Rubbing a hand over his face, he sighed at just how much he wanted… no, needed to tell Danny and he wondered if he would now ever get the chance as he asked Bridget softly, “How is he?”

Turning back to Danny, she lightly squeezed the still far-too-warm hand she held in hers as she answered quietly, “The nurse said there’s no change but I guess that’s a good thing, right?” She looked back at Steve, trying to keep a new flood of tears at bay.

Steve nodded as he looked across at Danny’s still face, “It is,” He forced a small smile as he looked back at Danny’s younger sister, “It means that he is not getting worse.” he tried to reassure her, and himself, as he heard a soft, frightened whisper behind him.

“Danno…”

Turning, he saw Grace standing wide-eyed in the doorway with Beth standing behind her. Staring at her father, her eyes flickered between Danny’s face and the ventilator that was helping him breathe. Even though Beth and Dog had warned her that Danno’s condition had deteriorated and that the doctors had placed him on a machine to help him breathe, she had not quite expected this. Looking at Steve, her fear, anger and hurt spilled boiled over as she lashed out. “This is your fault!”

 


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to say a big Thank you to everyone who is reading, commenting, kudoing, bookmarking or following this story. I am just so thrilled that so many of you are enjoying it. You guys are the people who make writing so much fun. THANK YOU! This chapter has a bit of Steve whump for Steve fans and some more Danny whump for Danno fans. i hope you enjoy it.

Turning towards the door, Bridget stared in surprise at Grace’s heated accusation as Grace turned and ran from the door.

“Grace, stop!” Beth said firmly but gently as she turned to follow Grace out of the room.

“No, let me.” Steve said quietly as he gingerly stood up, holding onto his stomach with one hand as he grabbed his drip stand with his other hand and used it for support as he walked unsteadily towards the door. “I’m the one who she is angry with and I’m the one who should talk to her.  I owe both her and Danny that.” he added softly as Grace’s heartbroken sobs from the corridor just outside the door echoed through the silent room.

Eyeing Steve’s damp, pale face and the way he held his arm tightly around his stomach and the way he was gritting his teeth, attempting not to moan. Beth glanced across at the young woman in the room, who seemed uncertain of what to do, before she looked back at Steve and nodded reluctantly.

“Thanks.” Steve nodded as he unsteadily walked passed Beth and stepped out into the corridor and turned towards Grace who was leaning against the wall crying. “Grace.” he said gently, waving Chin, Kono, and Dog away as they hurried down the corridor towards her.

“Leave me alone.” Grace sobbed, “I don’t want to talk to you. I don’t want to talk to any of you.” She choked on her sobs as she turned away to face the wall as she whispered, “I just want my dad to be okay.”

“So do I, Grace, I want that more than anything else in the world.” Steve murmured softly as he reached Grace and gently turned her around and pulled her closer, hugging her tightly as his rested his head on hers and blinked away his own tears as she buried her face into his chest and cried.

Pulling away from him, Grace looked up at his face and whispered brokenheartedly, “No, you don’t. You don’t care about us anymore, you don’t really care about Danno or Charlie or me. Not anymore…”

“Grace that’s not true,” Steve gasped, shocked at Grace’s stinging and heartbroken accusations, “Why would you ever think that? I love you, Danno and Charlie. You’re my ohana, just as much as Mary is…”

“That’s not true!” Grace shook her head as she pulled away. “You once told me that we were part of the Five 0 ohana and yours but we’re not!”

“It is true.” Steve tried to reassure her as he tried to ignore the wave of dizziness that washed over him, threatening to topple him.

“If it is true then why don’t any of you come to our house anymore or why don’t you want Danno as your partner?” Grace demanded, her tears running down her face as she stared up at Steve for an answer, unable to stop the dam of hurt, fear and the aching loss she was feeling from overflowing, as she rushed on, “No one came or visited Danno or Charlie when they were in the hospital when Danno gave Charlie some of his bone marrow. And why didn’t anyone care that Danno gave you half his liver? All they cared about was you got half of Danno’s liver, not that Danno lost half of his to give it to you and now he might die because of it. No one even gave him a card, all they cared about was you! Ohana is supposed to mean we’re family but family don’t do that to each other! Family are there when you need them the most!”

Steve felt the air rush from his lung and he struggled to take a breath as each of Grace’s tearful accusations robbed him of his breath. He felt physically ill as he realized just how much he had hurt not only Grace and Charlie but also his partner and closest friend with his decision, that at the time he believed he was doing for the right reasons, of everyone including himself giving Danny some space and time to deal with everything that had happened to him in the last few months. He had only Danny’s best interests at heart, he had never meant to hurt him or Grace and Charlie or make any of them believe that they were no longer some of the most important people in his life.

Steve shook his head as he swayed unsteadily, “Oh Grace, I’m …”

The sound of an alarm from Danny’s room interrupted anything he was about to say.

 Looking at Grace who was staring white faced and terrified at the door to her father’s room, he softly told her, “Grace, I want you to stay here, please while I see what’s happening.” Not waiting to see Grace’s terrified wooden nod, he turned and grabbed his drip stand and supporting himself with his other arm against the wall, he hurried back to Danny’s room, following the medical staff as they rushed into the room.

H50 H50 H50

The sound of someone crying echoed through the darkness that held him and it took Danny a few confusing moments to realize the sobs he was listening to were Gracie’s. He struggled to turn his head in the direction of the crying but he felt like he was buried in soft sand that was making it hard to move. Panicking at the sensation, he tried to free himself from whatever was holding him down. His terror increased as he began to choke on something that was filling his mouth and throat, making it impossible to breathe as a loud alarm began to sound close by as he struggled against the weight that held him down to try and lift his hand up far enough to remove the offending tube.

Startled and frightened by Danny’s sudden and unexpected panicked attempts to reach up and remove the breathing tube, Bridget grabbed his hands and gently forced them back down onto the bed as she tried hard to calm him, “It’s okay, Danny, it’s okay, it’s just a tube to help you breathe.’ she whispered as he struggled weakly to pull his hands free, his fear evident in his eyes as they slowly opened and stared up in terror at her.

“What happened?” the surgeon asked as he hurried into the room, followed by two nurses.

“I…I don’t know.” Bridget stammered, frightened as she was nudged out of the way, “One minute he was sleeping and the next…”

“He’s fighting the ventilator.” The nurse finished her sentence, hitting the alarm buttons on the ventilator and heart monitor, silencing them both as she grabbed Danny’s hands, pinning them firmly but gently against the bed as she leaned over him and softly reassured him, “It’s okay, Danny, just relax and let the machine do its job and breathe for you.”

Glancing at the readings on the machines that surrounded the bed before looking down at his terrified patient whose hands were now being lightly restrained by the nurse to prevent him from trying to pull the breathing tube out of his mouth, Dr Mullins looked across at the second nurse as he quietly ordered, “He needs to be sedated more to stop him fighting the vent. Let’s give him another dose of dexmedetomidine.”

The nurse nodded silently before she turned and left the room, stepping around Steve as he moved unsteadily across to the side of the bed to stand beside the doctor as Mullins tried to unsuccessfully calm his extremely agitated patient.

“Danny suffers from claustrophobia,” Steve quickly explained as he saw the fear and terror in his partner’s face and realized what was happening. He quickly reached for Danny’s hand and held it tightly as he moved across into Danny’s line of vision and began to whisper, “It’s okay Buddy, I’m right here, Danny, you’re safe, I’m not going to let anything happen to you, I promise. The tube in your mouth is just helping you breathe but you can’t fight it, just let it do its job.” He continued to try and reassure his partner as he saw out of the corner of his eye the nurse return to the room and hand the doctor a needle filled with something. Returning his attention back to Danny, he tried to ignore the pain in his stomach that was making itself known as he saw the surgeon inject the contents of the needle slowly into the tube of Danny’s drip as he continued to softly reassure his partner as he watched the medication start to take effect and Danny’s eyes drift slowly closed, “That’s it, Buddy, just relax, I promise everything will be okay. I am going to stay right here with you Danny.”

“That’s it, he’s under.” Mullins murmured as he watched Danny’s eyes close before he glanced up and read the figures on the machines.

Steve nodded slowly, still holding Danny’s hand as he straightened up as far as he could as the world around him began to spin and he felt his legs suddenly give out beneath him. He would never remember hitting the floor or Beth’s and Bridget’s frighten cries as he collapsed to the ground in front of them.


	19. Chapter 19

_“I think he is waking up.”_

_“Are you sure?”_

_“Yeah.”_

The softly whispered murmurs greeted Steve as he opened his eyes and looked slowly around in confusion to find himself back in the bed in his hospital room instead of by Danny’s bedside. He cried out in pain as his stomach protested as he tried to sit up to get out of bed to get back to his partner as his last coherent memory of Danny’s panic as he woke up on the ventilator flashed through his mind.

“Whoa Boss, the doctor said you aren’t allowed out of bed until tomorrow morning.” Kono lightly scolded him as she gently grabbed his shoulders and pressed him back against the pillow.

“What happened?” Steve frowned as he pressed his hand against his suture line in an effort to ease the pain as he looked up at Kono before he looked across at Lou, “How long have I been here?”

“You collapsed in Danny’s room from over doing things. You managed to rip out several stitches when you went down. Luckily you did no other damage, the surgeon restitched the broken stitches and decided to sedate you for eight hours to make sure that this time you did follow his orders.” Lou answered before he continued with a grin, “Although I do think I heard him mutter something about placing you in something called five-point restraints and tying you to the bed if you try and get out of it and go back to Danny’s room tonight.”

“I’ve been out for eight hours?” Steve asked in surprise as he realized that the sun coming through the window was now splashing muted colors of gold, pink and red on the white wall across from the bed.

Kono and Lou both nodded.

“How’s Danny?” Steve asked softly, fearing the answer.

 “Danny’s still critical, Boss,” Kono answered softly before she quickly added. “but the doctor said the antibiotics have started to do their job. His fever has dropped a little and his blood pressure is starting to improve but the doctors are going to keep him heavily sedated to make sure he doesn’t wake up while he is on the ventilator.”

“His family are with him at the moment, they arrived about an hour ago, the Governor had a car waiting at the airport to pick them up and bring them straight to the hospital.”

“The Governor had a car waiting…” Steve’s eyes opened wide in surprise.

 Lou nodded as he leaned back in the chair he was sitting in before he added proudly, “He’s also planning to award Danny with the Gold Medal of Valor.”

“The Gold Medal of Valor?” Steve parroted, uncertain he had heard Lou correctly.

 “The Governor is visiting Danno and he told us that the medal is in recognition of what Danno did not only by landing the plane and later arresting the man you were after but also for him donating half his liver to save your life.” A soft voice said nervously from the doorway.  

“Grace.” Steve gasped softly as he looked across at Grace who was standing anxiously in the doorway, watching him with Beth standing close behind.

“Uncle Steve, Beth says that we should let Grandma, Granddad, Auntie Stella and Auntie Bridget spend some time with Danno,” Swallowing hard, she glanced up at Beth who gave her a small encouraging smile before she looked back at Steve and said softly, “and that maybe we need to talk.”


	20. Chapter 20

Sitting up a little higher in the bed, ignoring his protesting stomach muscles, Steve reached his hand out towards her, “I would like that, Grace.”

Biting her bottom lip as she slowly and reluctantly entered the room, Grace looked back at Beth who smiled again and nodded before she walked across to the side of the bed.

“Kono, Lou, why don’t we join Dog in the cafeteria for a cup of coffee and leave Steve and Grace to talk.” Beth suggested quietly as she tilted her head towards the corridor. The look on her face warned both Five 0 officers that now was not the time to argue with her.

“Umm, sounds good, we could use some decent coffee, can’t we Kono?” Lou nodded as he stood up.

“Yeah,” Kono forced a small smile as she rose from her seat and glanced back at Steve and Grace, “Do you want us to grab anything for you?”

Both Grace and Steve shook their heads as they watched Kono and Lou turn and leave the room.

Turning his attention back to Grace, Steve felt his chest tighten as he saw the hurt and confusion in Grace’s eyes as she turned back and looked at him. He could see the tears that were welling in her eyes, threatening to fall. It broke his heart to see her so upset and he felt the guilt lance through his soul as the knowledge he that he was responsible threatened to shatter the broken pieces of his heart. Taking a deep breath, he ran a hand nervously over his head as he began before Grace could say a word, “Listen Grace, before you say anything, I want to apologize for the way I have treated you, Charlie and Danno, lately. I never meant to hurt you, I thought I was doing the right thing but I was wrong and you have every right to be angry at me but I hope you will let me explain.”

Biting her bottom lip in an attempt stop any tears from falling, Grace nodded.

“You do know that I think of you, Charlie and Danno as my ohana, that I love the three of you more than you could ever know, don’t you?” Steve began slowly.

He felt his breath catch in his throat as Grace silently looked down at the floor and shrugged.

Swallowing hard, he reached for her hand and waited until she reluctantly looked back up at him before he continued softly, “I know at the moment that you probably don’t believe me, but it’s the truth. I would never deliberately do anything to hurt you, Charlie or Danno.”

A flash of anger and hurt flared in Grace’s eyes and she pulled her hand free as she stared at him, “Then why don’t you want Danno to be your partner anymore?”

“What?” Steve asked a little bewildered, “Who told you that?”

“I overheard Danno telling Grandma the last time we were in Jersey. He said that he didn’t know what he had done to lose your trust but you seem to trust Lou more to have your back. You take Lou out on most of the cases with you now not Danno.”

“Ohh, Grace, I can explain.” Steve tried to tell her quietly, “It’s not that I don’t want Danno as my…”

“Why do you like hanging out with Kono, Chin and Lou more than us?” Grace rushed on as all the hurt and anger over the way she, Charlie and especially Danno had been treated spilled over. “You never come over to see us anymore or to hang out with Danno! You didn’t even come and see Danno or Charlie after Danno gave Charlie his bone marrow!” Her voice dropped as she looked away from him and stared at a spot at the wall as she quietly admitted, “I waited for you, Kono or Uncle Chin to come but none of you did.”

“Grace, I…”

 “I really, really thought you would but you didn’t, not even after they got out of hospital.” Grace whispered as she looked back at Steve as she was unable to stop the tears that started to trickle down her face, “Danno thought you would come, too, but when you didn’t he made excuses for you. He told me that you were probably busy with a case or something but I knew he didn’t really believe that. I may be a kid but I saw how upset he was when that you didn’t…”

“Oh Gracie, I love you, Charlie and Danno."  Steve murmured as the realization of how much he had hurt not only Grace and Charlie but also Danny crushed over him like a tsunami, leaving him feeling physically ill, breathless and light headed. Swallowing hard to force down the bile that was burning the back of his throat, he reached for Grace’s hand again as he felt his own tears well up in his eyes as he tried to talk with a tightening throat, “Please believe me, Grace, when I tell you that I would never do anything to hurt any of you guys, but I…I did, even though I never meant to.  I honestly thought I was doing the right thing but I was wrong. I never meant to hurt any of you!”

Squeezing Grace’s hand when he saw the doubtful but questioning look on Grace’s face as she stood silently, waiting for him to explain just why he had done wrong by trying to do the right thing he continued, praying that she would understand what he was trying to explain. “I thought after everything you and Danno has gone through with your mom over the last couple of years, then finding out that Danno was Charlie’s dad and how sick Charlie was, then the bone marrow transplant and Danno getting custody of Charlie, that it was best for the three of you if Kono, Chin, Lou and I stepped back a little and gave the three of you some space to adjust to all the changes that were happening. I thought that the three of you needed some time alone as a family.” He shook his head as he admitted not only to Grace but also to himself, “It was hard, Danno is not only my partner but he is my closest friend. There were so many times that I had to stop myself from going over to your place, to hang out not only with Danno, but you and Charlie as well. I missed hanging out with you guys, but I thought that I would just get in the way.”

Biting her bottom lip, Grace nodded as she listened to Steve’s explanation of why he had stopped hanging out with them, even though she thought she sort of understood, it did not make it hurt any less.  Taking a deep breath, she asked, “But why don’t you want Danny to be your partner anymore? I heard Danno tell Grandma that he didn’t think that you trusted him, that’s why he wants to go back to Jersey.” She wiped her tears as she added almost too softly for Steve to hear, "He says he wants to go back to be closer to Grandma and Granddad but I know that’s not the only reason why, it’s because he now longer feels like he is part of Five 0.”

Grimacing as he shifted a little in the bed, he swallowed hard, horrified that Danny or Grace could ever think that Lou or anyone else could ever replace Danny as his partner. He felt the breath rush from his lungs as he stared into Grace’s tear filled eyes as the memory of how he had noticed Danny slowly drawing away from the team during the last few months and how quickly he had told himself that the reason was because of how much Danny was dealing with at home. “Oh Gracie, Lou could never and will never replace Danno as my partner.  I when I first started Five 0 and I first met Danno, I knew I wanted him as my partner and I have never changed my mind. I trust Danno with my life. He is one of the most bravest men I know and I know that he will always have my back, just like I have his, no matter what happens.  As far as I am concerned, Danno is and will always be who I want for a partner and there is no one else who could ever replace him.”

Grace frowned.

 Running his hand over his head, he looked down at the sheet covering his legs as he tried to find the right words to explain to Grace why he had started taking Lou with him, rather than Danny when investigating cases, he sighed as he realized just how badly he had handled everything. “Grace, I honestly thought that if I took Lou along with me when we were working cases, that I was taking some of the work load off Danno’s shoulders. I wanted to make things a little easier for him so he could recover from the bone marrow transplant and be able to deal with everything else that was going on with your mom and with what was happening with Charlie. I never thought for a minute that he would think that I didn’t trust him or that I wanted to replace him with another partner.” He shook his head as he looked back up at Grace, “I guess I really screwed things up, didn’t I? No wonder why Danno is wanting to go back to Jersey.”

Grace nodded as some of her anger melted away as she resisted hugging the man she loved like an uncle as she asked the question that hurt the most, a question that she had asked both Beth and Dog and neither could give her an answer to. “Why doesn’t anyone care about Danno, anymore? No one cared that Danno gave you half of his liver, all they cared about was you were going to be okay. No one even went in to see him before the operation, I was the only one who did, but they all went in to see you.” Her voice caught in her throat as a small sob escaped, “No one even gave Danno a get-well card. And they all thought it was funny. It wasn’t funny, Uncle Steve, it hurt. It hurt heaps to see how upset Danno was and how no one noticed or even cared. Why didn’t anyone even give him a card?”

Steve felt a sharp stab of guilt lance his heart as he remembered his own behaviour towards Danny when it had happened. He had not understood why Danny had been upset but now… Shaking his head, he realized that he did not know why everyone had decided to shower him with gifts and cards and ignored Danny when Danny deserved them so much more than he did. “I don’t know…” he answered truthfully.

“Gracie, we all love Danny I swear, and although I know that you might not believe that at the moment, none of us realized how much we were hurting him when we tried to give him some space to get used to all the things that were happening in his, Charlie's or your lives. Unfortunately, while trying to give him the time alone to get to know Charlie, we gave him too much space and none of us realized just how much he really needed us, and that was so wrong.” Chin said softly from the doorway as he entered the room with Eric trailing slowly behind him, carrying a large pile of cards. “You, Charlie and Danno are important members of our ohana and your right, ohana should not treat each other as we treated you, Charlie and your dad and we are so sorry.”

Walking further into the room, Chin continued to try and answer all her questions. “You also wanted to know why we went and saw Steve before the operation and not Danny, well the reason why we went to see Steve before the operation was so we could say our last goodbyes in case Steve didn’t make it.” Chin looked at her and asked, “Did you know that your dad told the doctors that they were not allowed to tell us about the risks that he was taking by donating his liver?”

Grace shook her head.

“He didn’t want us to worry but that’s just the kind of man your dad is. He thinks about everyone else before he thinks about himself. He knew if we knew the risks he was facing, we would have tried to talk him out of it. While the doctors were allowing us to spend a few minutes with Steve, they were preparing your dad for the surgery. When we went to see your dad before the operation to wish him luck and to let him know we would be waiting for him afterwards, it was too late, the doctors had already taken him into surgery.” Glancing back at Eric, Chin added softly, “As for all cards and gifts, I think Eric can explain better what happened than I can.”

Swallowing hard, Eric stepped around Chin as he handed Grace the large pile of cards he held in his hands. “It’s my fault that Uncle D didn’t get any cards or get well gifts, Grace,” he admitted softly as he nervously glanced at Steve before he returned his attention back to his cousin. “there heaps more at your place, this was all I grabbed when I went back there to get them. I just wanted to surprise Uncle D and show him just how much everyone loves him and thinks he is an awesome guy, so I sort of collected all the gifts and cards he was given. I was planning on throwing him a hero party and have them all on display when he got home…” Eric’s voice trailed off a little as Grace stared at the large pile of cards she now held in her hands before she looked back up at him, “I guess it was not one of my best ideas…”

 

 


	21. Chapter 21

Watching Grace and Eric leave the room to return to Danny and the rest of their ohana, Steve ran his hand over his head. He never ever wanted to see the hurt, disappointment, and anger in Grace's eyes that he had been responsible for placing there. Although Grace had seemed to reluctantly accept his explanations of what had started out as good intentions and a misguided attempted to help the family that he loved with all his heart and considered his own personal ohana but had ended so badly with not only Grace but also Danny feeling ostracized and unwanted by not only him but the whole Five 0 ohana, he knew that it was going to take much more than just explanations and apologies to repair the damage he had unwittingly done.

He sighed loudly before he turned and found himself staring at the pile of cards that Grace had left with him for safekeeping until they could pass them onto Danny. His frown deepened with confusion as he realized that somehow Eric had managed to intercept all of Danny's gifts and cards, even the ones that had been brought directly, by friends and acquaintances, to the hospital. His frowned deepened with the mystery of just had how Eric been able to achieve doing that as he looked back up at Chin, "I just don't get it, Chin, how did Eric manage to get his hands on all of Danny's Get-Well cards?"

Chin was unable to stop the small shake of his head as he picked up some of the cards and looked through them before he looked back at Steve, "Simple Steve, while we collected all the cards and gifts that you were given after the surgery to give you when you were well enough to receive them, Eric simply told all of Danny's friends and the guys in HPD that he that he was collecting Danny's cards and gifts, so everyone gave them straight to him with no questions asked."

"But what about the cards and gifts brought directly to the hospital? He couldn't have told everyone to give him the cards."

"No, he couldn't," Chin agreed before he shook his head in amazement of Eric's explanation of how he had managed to snag all of Danny's cards and gifts, "The nurses rostered on the day and evening shifts were collecting any cards or gifts that were brought directly to the ward for both you and Danny and keeping them at the nurse's desk until you were allowed to receive them. All that Eric needed to do was get friendly with one of the nurses and convince her that he would give Danny the cards with all the other Get-Well cards and gifts he had collected."

"And because Eric is Danny's nephew…"

"The nurse had no reason to believe that Eric would not give Danny his cards." Chin nodded as he placed the cards back onto the table, "I think it was more a spur of the moment idea Eric had that he did not take the time to think through. But I have to admit, Steve, while his heart was in the right place but it wasn't one of Eric's brightest ideas. I am sure if he had seen the look on Danny's face when he didn't get any cards, he would have realized that and told Danny just what he had done, but he didn't because he was working last night when we gave you your cards."

"And we didn't help the situation any," Steve sighed.

"Yeah." Chin agreed guiltily as he looked back at the cards as he remembered the look of the hurt resignation of being forgotten that he had seen in Danny's eyes. "I'm only hoping that Danny decides to listen to us when we try and explain everything that's happened and that he will accept our apology, cause if he doesn't…" Chin's words faded off in a heavy sigh.

Steve swallowed hard and nodded, unable to speak, the mere thought of no longer having Danny by his side was too unbearable to even contemplate.


	22. Chapter 22

Pushing the now cold and slightly greasy looking bacon and eggs that the nurse had saved for him from the breakfast trolley, aimlessly around on his plate, Steve sighed as he looked up at the clock on the wall - !0 am. The nurses must have slipped him some more sedation with his tablets last night after Chin had left and he had only woken up less than half an hour before.

Glancing anxiously towards the door, desperately wishing that Dr Mullins or a nurse would enter and update him on Danny’s condition. The last update he had managed to wrangle from the harassed night nurse before he had fallen asleep last night was Danny’s condition was critical but stable. His wish was answered as Dr Mullins entered the room and he put his fork down and pushed the breakfast tray away as he asked, “How is Danny, Doc?”

“Resting,” the surgeon smiled as he glanced down at the medical chart he held in his hand, quickly perusing it before he looked back up at his anxious patient in the bed, “Just like I am pleased to see you did yesterday and last night.” Placing the chart down on the bedside table next to the untouched breakfast tray, Mullins stepped closer to the bed and carefully peeled back the bandage covering Steve’s newly repaired sutures as he continued to talk, “But I guess you don’t want to hear about how incredibly pleased I am that you actually followed my medical orders, even if to get you to do so, I had to sedate you, you would rather hear that Detective Williams’s condition has improved overnight. I have just been upstairs and examined him, and I am happy to tell you that the antibiotics seem to be working.”

“Thank God.” Steve murmured, wincing slightly as the surgeon gently palpated his stomach.

 “Detective Williams’s condition has improved enough overnight that we were able to remove him from the ventilator earlier this morning and I lowered his sedation to allow him to wake up.” Satisfied there was no infection developing with the new sutures, Mullins carefully taped down the wound dressing before he glanced down at his watch and then looked back up at Steve, “He should be waking up soon, I guess you would like to be with him when he does?”

“Yes please, Doc.” Steve nodded, sitting up higher in the bed, ignoring his protesting newly healing stomach muscles as he threw the sheet back and swung his legs over the edge of the bed.

“I thought so,” the surgeon smiled as the nurse wheeled a wheelchair into the room and he helped Steve stand before gently guiding him onto the chair as he added, “but today no staying with Detective Williams until you collapse, today you will be returning to your room when the nurse decides it’s time for you to return and you are to rest for a minimum of two hours before you will be allowed to return to Detective Williams’s ICU room, is that understood?”

“Understood.” Steve readily agreed as the nurse began to wheel him from his room.

H50 H50 H50

Holding Danny’s hand as she stood beside his bed, Clara gently brushed his hair back from his forehead with her hand as she murmured softly to him, just like she used to do when he was small and ill in bed. Beth and Dog had taken Grace and Charlie home with them after both kids fell asleep and she sent Eddie, Stella, and Bridget back to the hotel late last night after it was decided that it was probably best if they took turns so there would always be at one of the family with Danny all the time.  She had volunteered to stay with him during the night, arguing that she was not tired but the real reason she had wanted to stay the night alone was that she had wanted to spend some time with Danny by herself.

Hearing someone enter the room she turned and gasped in surprise. “Steven! What are you doing out of bed?”

“I wanted to see how Danny is doing. I hope I am not intruding.” Steve answered as the nurse rolled the wheelchair closer to the bed and stopped it beside her.

Clara answered warmly at Steve as she moved aside, still holding Danny’s hand, “Of course you’re not, I think Daniel would like you to be here with him.”

 Locking the wheelchair’s brakes, the nurse leaned forward and softly reminded Steve that she would return to take him back to his room.

He nodded and looked over his shoulder as he quietly thanked the nurse, promising that he would follow the doctor’ orders before she turned and left the room. Turning back towards the bed, he unsteadily pulled himself up out of the chair and clutched the bed rail as he stared down at Danny, relieved to see that the ventilator had been removed just as Mullins had told him, “How is he?”

Returning her attention back to Danny as she again gently brushed back his hair with her hand, Clara smiled. “The doctors say he is getting better, they were able to take him off the ventilator this morning and they are expecting him to wake up soon.” Swallowing hard as she tried hard not to let any more tears fall, she shook her head as she looked back at Steve and whispered, “The surgeon told us we almost lost him yesterday, it was touch and go for several hours. They weren’t even sure that we would make it in time to say goodbye.” Biting her lip as she turned back to Danny, she placed her hand gently against his cheek as she quietly admitted, “I don’t know what I would do if we lost Daniel too, not after losing Matty.”

Placing his arm around Clara’s shoulders, Steve pulled Clara closer and allowed her to rest her head on his shoulder as he looked down at his partner and weakly smiled, “If Danny can survive being my partner, there was no way he was going to let a little infection beat him.” Steve’s smile grew with pride as he placed his hand on Danny’s arm and gave it an affectionate squeeze, “Danny’s a fighter…”

“You love him, don’t you?” Clara asked suddenly, startling Steve with her forthright question as she turned back and looked up at him.

Steve blushed before he managed to stutter, “Umm…I…I…”

 “Oh Steven, I’m not blind. I see it in your eyes every time you look at him,” Clara smiled as she returned her attention back to Danny and squeezed his hand, “and I see the same thing in Daniel’s face every time he talks about you. I don’t know if he realizes it or not but the last time I saw that look in his eyes was when he fell in love with Rachel. Have you told him yet how you feel about him?”

“I…I…” Steve’s blush deepened, uncertain of just what to say to the mother of the man he loved as he shifted uncomfortably.

“You know you should and soon, 'cause if you don’t, Daniel is going to leave.” Clara warned Steve softly as she looked at him and admonished him gently, “I’m not sure what has happened between you and Daniel or between Daniel and the rest of the team but what I do know is when Daniel is well enough, the two of you need to talk and be honest about how you both feel about each other, if you want Daniel to stay.”


	23. Chapter 23

Danny slowly become aware of the gentle hand that brushed back his hair from his forehead and the soft comforting voice that he knew so well. Struggling to open his heavy eyes, he found himself staring up into the blurry face of a woman, a woman whom he knew instantly, “Ma…” he croaked weakly as he tried to reach for her hand.

“Yes, Sweetheart, I’m here...I’m here…” Clara smiled, blinking back the tears of relief, as she grabbed his hand and lovingly cupped the side of his face with her other hand. “And so is Stephen.

Steve grabbed the bedrail and stood up as quickly as he could, ignoring the pain as the movement stretched his newly restitched wound as he placed his hand on Danny’s leg and gave it a soft squeeze as he smiled, “Hey.”

Danny frowned as he blinked and tried to bring his mother’s and Steve’s blurry figures into focus, his rising panic evident in his eyes as the soft beeps of the heart monitor began to race across the screen. Weakly reaching up for the oxygen mask that covered his half of his face as his eyes began to dart around the room in fear.

Quickly grabbing Danny’s hand, Steve gently lowered it back down onto the bed, holding it tightly as his thumb gently caressed the warm skin. “Hey Babe, you need to leave that where it is, it’s just an oxygen mask, the docs are giving you a little oxygen just to help a little with your breathing.” He smiled when Danny looked back at him, the fear in Danny’s eyes fading a little as Danny’s fingers tightened feebly around his own.

“Wh…where?” Danny breathed softly, confused he was no longer in the room he had been sharing with Steve, wincing as he tried to speak, his throat felt like it was lined with sharp razor blades.

Squeezing Danny’s hand, a little tighter, Steve told him, “You’re in the ICU, Buddy, you began to bleed into your tummy and they had to operate again. They found you were hurt more than what you told us in the plane crash and you had quite an infection brewing in there. You gave us quite a scare.”

“But you’re going to be okay, Honey, I promise you, you are going to be fine, everything’s going to be alright.” Clara promised him as she continued to stroke his hair and the side of his face, still unable to believe that he was really awake. Swallowing hard, she smiled through her tears as she whispered, “I’ve to let the nurses and your dad and sisters know that you’re awake, I will be right back, I promise, Danny.” Clara smiled grew as she leaned down and gently kissed his forehead as an errant tear trickled down her face as she squeezed his hand and whispered in his ear, “I love you, Sweetheart.”

 Straightening up she released his hand before she turned to Steve and gave him a light encouraging nudge in the ribs to move closer to top of the bed so Danny could see him more easily as she whispered softly in his ear, “Go on, Stephen, now’s your chance while it’s just the two of you.  Talk to him, tell him how you really feel! He needs to know.”

Steve blushed as he turned and watched Clara leave the room before he looked back at Danny who was silently watching him through tired, glazed eyes.

“Hey, Buddy,” he began nervously again as he stared down at his closest friend, running his hand over his head and leaving it resting on the back of his head, ignoring the strain that standing was having on his still tender stomach muscles as the things he wanted to say fled, leaving him uncertain of how to apologize for all that had happened between them and to tell Danny he loved him. He had screwed up so badly and he wasn’t sure if he had pushed Danny away.

Danny blinked as he tried to think through the fogginess and remember what had happened. The last solid memory he had was sharing Steve’s room after they had both been transferred from ICU after the liver transplant operation and Steve telling him that he hated him and that Charlie would hate him as well. A tear trickled down the side of his face as he looked up at the man whom he loved as that last memory replayed over and over in his mind, Steve’s words echoing in his head.   _“I promise you Danny, give Charlie time and he is going to grow up and hate you just as much as I do.”_

 Steve hated him!

His heart broke and he weakly pulled his hand free from Steve’s comforting hold, uncertain of why Steve was even there as he turned his head and closed his eyes as another tear fell.


	24. Chapter 24

Clara hesitated as she reached the door and turned back to watch Danny and Steve. She knew it was wrong to eavesdrop but she also wanted to know that Steve had taken her advice and was now telling Danny how just how important her son was to him and how he really felt about Danny. She bit her lip as she saw Steve hesitate and it took all of her inner strength to stop herself from going back to him and slapping him across the back of the head. She held her breath as she watched Steve begin to talk softly to her son but her heart plummeted when she saw Danny weakly pull his hand free from Steve’s and turn his head.

Every mothering instinct in her body screamed at her to go back and help them to sort everything out, but she knew that any hope of them getting together rested on the two of them being honest about their feelings with each other and working through this together. She sighed as she turned and walked away, silently praying that they could.

Steve’s heart sunk when he saw the all too raw hurt and confusion in Danny’s drug glazed eyes as Danny pulled his hand free and turned away. Swallowing hard, he ran his hand over his head as he stared at Danny, uncertain of how to fix things. _“You love him, don’t you? Have you told him yet how you feel about him? You know you should and soon, 'cause if you don’t, Daniel is going to leave.”_ Clara’s words echoed in his head, causing his chest to tighten with fear.

Taking a deep breath, he reached for Danny’s still too warm arm and lightly placed his hand on it, squeezing it lightly. “Danny?” He paused a moment uncertain if Danny had drifted back to sleep, but the sudden tension he felt beneath his hand and the soft, racing beeps from the heart machine told him Danny was awake and listening. Lightly squeezing Danny’s arm again, he sighed as he stared at the back of Danny’s head before he took another deep breath and softly admitted, “I screwed up, Danny, I really screwed up and I don’t know how to fix things…us.”

He felt Danny’s breath hitch beneath his hand and ignoring his own tears that now trickled down his face, he bit his bottom lip and tried to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat, threatening to choke him as he continued, “I … I have so much to apologize for and I can only hope that you can forgive me, ‘cause I don’t know what I would do if I ever lost you.”

 He paused a moment, squeezing his eyes shut in pain and gritting his teeth as his stomach muscles began to cramp in protest at the strain of standing for so long. His hand holding onto the bedrail tightened as he felt his legs begin to tremble, and he ignored his body’s demands for him to sit back down.  A fine sheen of perspiration formed on his face as he waited for the cramp to ease a little.

Steve slowly released the small breath he was holding and opened his eyes as the pain subsided. Looking back down at Danny as he heard footsteps enter the room and approach the bed, he squeezed Danny’s arm a little tighter as he whispered, “I love you, Danny Williams, more than you know.”

 His heart shattered into a million pieces as Danny pulled away.

“I’m sorry, Commander, but I have to return you back to your room now.” the young nurse told him quietly as she reached the side of the bed and gently grabbed his arm, easing him back down onto the wheelchair. She glanced over his shoulder as the doctor entered that room and hurried across to the bed before she looked back down at the pale Commander. “The doctor needs to examine Detective Williams.”

Running a shaky hand over his head as he stared at his partner’s back, Steve swallowed hard and slowly nodded, not trusting his voice to speak as the nurse began to wheel him out the room.


	25. Chapter 25

Reaching the doorway, Steve suddenly grabbed the wheelchair’s wheels, bringing the chair to a sudden halt as he looked up at the nurse and pleaded softly, “Please, let me have another just a couple more minutes with him.”

Biting her bottom lip, she looked down at the desperation in Steve’s face before she looked back over her shoulder who had stopped his examination and now was watching closely. She hesitated, uncertain of what to do.

Looking back down at his patient, who slowly turned his head and was now watching his partner’s sudden halted egress out of the room, before he looked back at the nurse and McGarrett. He wasn’t sure what was going on between his two patients, but he sensed whatever was going on, neither would rest until they talked. Giving a single curt nod at the nurse, Dr Mullins looked at Steve as the nurse turned the wheelchair back around before he ordered firmly, “You can have two more minutes, Commander, and not one second more! And when those two minutes are up, there will be no arguments, you will be returning back to your room, understand?”

“Understood Doc!” Steve nodded distractedly, watching Danny warily watching him as he was wheeled back to the side of the bed before he looked back up the nurse and the surgeon and asked, “Can you give us a couple of minutes, Doc?”

Mullins nodded again before he looked at the nurse and tilted his head towards the door in a silent order to follow.

Taking a quick, furtive glance back at Steve as he grabbed the bedrails and pulled himself, shakily, back onto his feet, she turned and followed the surgeon from the room, wheeling the empty wheelchair in front of her.

Steve waited until he heard the two medical staff leave the room before he reached for Danny’s arm again as Danny turned his face away, ignoring Danny’s weak attempts to pull away. “Listen Danny, we need to talk,” he began.

“Noth…nothing left…to talk…about…” Danny rasped softly, as his eyes began to drift closed.

“You’re wrong, Babe, there’s-”

“Don’t …wanna…talk,” Danny mumbled, tiredly.

Squeezing Danny’s arm, Steve bit his lip as he stared down at the back of his partner’s head. Drawing a deep breathe, he announced determinedly, “That’s okay, you don’t have to talk, Buddy, you can just listen while I do all the talking.” Steve paused, but when Danny did not protest or pull further away, he continued, “You know, Buddy, sometimes I’m not always very good at sharing my feelings. And you were probably right when you said that I was probably never hugged enough as a baby.”

He smiled, encouraged, when he thought he heard a soft snort from Danny as he went on, “Well Danny, I know I really, really messed up and I’m truly, truly sorry. I never, ever meant to hurt you, Gracie or Charlie but I did. And i never meant a word of it when I said that Charlie would grow up hating you just as much as I do, because he won't and I don't. I guess I really screwed up, I honestly thought that I was doing the right thing by giving you, Gracie and Charlie some time together, especially after everything that happened but I was wrong. I never meant to make you feel like I was pushing you away because I wasn’t, Danny, I would never do that. You, Gracie and Charlie my ohana and no matter what happens that will never change.”

 Steve swallowed hard, his voice cracking a little as Danny turned his head back towards him, silently listening to what he was saying. Steve licked his lips as Clara’s words screamed in his head, _‘You love him, don’t you? Steven, I’m not blind. I see it in your eyes every time you look at him, and I see the same thing in Daniel’s face every time he talks about you. I don’t know if he realizes it or not but the last time I saw that look in his eyes was when he fell in love with Rachel. Have you told him yet how you feel about him? You know you should and soon, 'cause if you don’t, Daniel is going to leave.’_   Taking a deep breath, Steve rushed on, “I guess when it comes to talking about my feelings and you, I am just a Neanderthal animal. I know that I have told you that I love you before, Babe, but I really need you to believe me when I tell you that I really do love you.” Releasing Danny’s arm before running his hand over his hair, Steve looked down at Danny as Danny stared up at him before he took the chance and admitted his true feelings not only to Danny, but also to himself, “I love you Danny Williams and I don’t know what I would do if you decided to leave me.”

He jumped as he heard the surgeon enter the room and announce, “Okay Commander, I’m sorry but time is up. I need to examine your partner and you need to return to your room.”

Steve turned and nodded as the nurse entered the room pushing a wheelchair. Turning back to Danny, Steve reached for his arm again and gave it a light squeeze as he whispered, “I love you, Babe.”


	26. Chapter 26

Pausing just long enough to reassure Clara Williams that her son’s condition had stabilized and although his condition was still critical, he was responding well to the antibiotics and was now on the road to recovery, Dr Mullins headed towards the doctor’s office to make the necessary notations in his patient’s chart.

“Doctor Mullins!”

He quickly turned at the nurse’s behest as the nurse emerged from the patient’s room and hurried across to where he was waiting. “Sarah, what’s wrong?” he asked anxiously as he glanced over her shoulder back at his patient’s room, afraid that he had missed something again.

Instantly reading her friend and colleague’s fear that flittered across his face and aware of the guilt he was feeling about missing the injury to the patient’s bowel during the initial examination after the plane crash and the partial liver donation operation that had led to the patient almost dying from sepsis, she quickly rushed to reassure him, “No, Brian, it’s not what you are thinking, Danny’s, umm, I mean Detective Williams is stable. In fact, we both know that his condition this morning is better than just stable, he’s improving. But what the other nurses and I want to ask you is about the situation with Danny…” She hesitated a heartbeat as he looked back at her and frowned before she added a little nervously, “and Commander McGarrett.”

Doctor Mullins’s frown deepened in confusion, aware that sometimes he became so focussed on the patient’s medical and surgical treatment that he missed other things happening that often happened right in front of him, “Situation?”

Taking a deep breath, Sarah rushed on, “Commander McGarrett’s need to be constantly by Danny’s side, even to the point of that he is neglecting his own health to do so. He has just undergone a liver transplant and shouldn’t even be out of bed, himself, let alone spending hours in a wheelchair sitting beside his partner’s ICU bed or escaping from his own room to-”

Brian nodded as he lifted up his hand to stop the nurse’s nervous observations as his eyes lit up in sudden understanding, “And you want me to ban him from the unit, although I am not sure how we would be able to enforce such a ban with McGar-”

“No, no!” the nurse shook her head, surprising the surgeon, “In fact, we are thinking of doing the complete opposite. We were thinking that maybe it would be easier and the best solution for everyone if Danny and the Commander shared a room together again.”

Staring at the nurse in shock that she had seemed to have forgotten just how critically ill their patient still was, Brian shook his head emphatically, “No! No way! Are you insane! Less than twenty-four hours ago, Danny was as close to death as anyone could be! He is far too critical to even consider moving him from the ICU. He has just been taken off the ventilator and only just started to respond to the antibiotics, for God sake! There’s no way-”

“No, hell no, that’s not we’re suggesting,” the nurse quickly cut him off as she grabbed the surgeon’s arm, leading him across to the nurse’s station before reaching for room chart that showed the ICU patient’s rooms and occupied beds. Pointing to one of the empty step-down rooms that contained all the same equipment as the regular ICU rooms but also contained two beds instead of the standard one, she quickly explained. “We were thinking that it might be easier if we simply move Danny and the Commander both into the empty step-down room. This way Danny’s not moved from the unit and there will be no interruption to his treatment and-”

“Commander McGarrett is getting the bed rest he desperately needs and is not constantly trying to escape from his room to sit with his partner.” Mullins smiled, liking the nurse’s suggestion as he stared at the bed chart.

The nurse smiled and nodded, “A win/win situation for everyone.”

Looking back up at the nurse, the smile on Mullins’s lips disappeared, “Of course if we do it, there will have to be restrictions placed on McGarrett’s visitors. But even so, I guess it will only happen if both the hospital’s administration and Danny Williams’s family agree. I know that Steve McGarrett is listed as his Next-of-Kin, but I guess that was because Williams’s family are on the mainland, but now they are here…”

The nurse’s smile grew as she looked over the nurse’s desk towards Danny’s room before she looked back at Mullins and announced, “Well, it was Danny’s mother who asked if it was at all possible, and I have already felt out administration about the possibility. They know the Commander well and said that if you and the rest of the nursing staff agreed, they had no objections.”

Mullins gently placed his hand on the nurse’s shoulder as he grinned, “So what are we waiting for? You get Danny moved into his new room and I will arrange for McGarrett’s transfer back up to the ICU!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay- finally to the point where the healing between our two fav guys and Danny and the rest of the team can really begin. A big Mahalo to everyone who has kudoed, commented, bookmarked or are reading this story. You guys make writing so much fun and have just so much patience. Mahalo guys!


	27. Chapter 27

Flicking disinterestedly through the TV channels before finally settling on an old movie, Steve sighed as he dropped the TV remote beside him on the bed and tiredly leaned his head back against his pillows. Staring up at the flickering screen, it took him a few minutes to realize that the movie scene he was now watching was about an alien giving birth. It was the same scene that he had seen reduce Danny to tears several years ago when Danny was watching it.

The thought of his partner caused his chest to tighten and he swallowed hard, blinking back the hot, scalding tears that threatened to fall. He knew that his actions over the last few months had hurt Danny but today when Danny had turned away from him when he had tried to apologize made him realize just how much damage his good intentions had caused to their friendship and how much pain he had accidentally inflicted on his closest friend and the man whom he loved. Maybe Danny was right, it seemed that when it came to dealing with the people he loved and relationships, he really was a Neanderthal! He had accidentally pushed Danny away and now he wasn’t sure if Danny would ever forgive him. This time he had really screwed up and he wasn’t sure if he could fix things.

“Commander?”

Steve jumped in surprise and quickly brushed the tears from his eyes as before he turned towards the door and watched the surgeon enter the room. “Doc, how is he?” Steve asked anxiously before Mullins even reached the side of his bed.

“He’s still a very sick young man but he is definitely improving, the antibiotics are doing the job,” Mullins smiled as he reached for the remote and turned the TV off before he looked back at Steve, the expression on his face looked serious as he added, “but Commander, that’s not the reason why I am here. The nurses in the ICU have approached me about how much time you have been spending in Detective Williams’s room and not the fact that you, yourself, have just undergone a liver transplant and you are not giving yourself the chance to rest and heal. And quite frankly, I fully agree with their concerns. You have already collapsed once from exhaustion and we were lucky that time that you only tore out a couple of external stitches, next time you may not be as lucky-”

“But Doc-” Steve began, only to be silenced as Mullins held up his hand to forestall any arguments.

“As I said, I agree with the nurses’ concerns and that’s why I am here.” the surgeon continued firmly, as if he had not been interrupted, “and It seems the only solution that will suit everyone is that you and Detective Williams share the same room again. That way you are able to stay with Detective Williams and you won’t be upsetting the nurses both on this unit and the ICU with your continuous requests and escaping to spend time next to your partner’s bed, and we are able to ensure that you are also able to get the rest you need. The best of both worlds for everyone, don’t you agree?”

Without giving Steve the chance to answer, Mullins stroked his short beard as he stared ahead, appearing to contemplate the conundrum that he now found himself in, “The problem is that Detective Williams is far too ill to even consider moving from the ICU… which means if this solution is to work, you will have to be moved back to the ICU which means that your visitors would be restricted. And of course, it also means that if you are moved back to the ICU to share a room with Detective Williams, you will have to remain in bed and rest.”

“I will, Doc,” Steve nodded eagerly as he readily agreed.

“Well then, I guess all that’s left is to transfer you back to the ICU,” the surgeon smiled as he turned back to the nurse who was waiting near the door, “Nurse, can you take care of Commander McGarrett’s transfer back to the ICU? The paperwork is already done. They are expecting him.”

“Yes Sir,” the nurse smiled as she hurried into the room to prepare Steve for his transfer back to the ICU.


End file.
